Falling in Love
by LizzeXX
Summary: 11/OC -Time Lady- The Doctor and Mac, a former UNIT agent, are finally on the same page about where they stand in their growing relationship. But as they draw closer, the Silence lurk in the shadows. Many tests await them on the shores of Lake Silencio. What will happen when Silence falls? More importantly...who is River Song to the Time Lords? Fourth in the Time Lady Memoirs.
1. Space & Time

A/N: Hey! This story is Falling in Love, the fourth story in my fourth OC series, The Time Lady Memoirs, for Doctor Who. I would recommend that new readers look at the first three stories (Losing Hope, Finding Forgiveness, and Endeavors in Wooing) to understand my OC, Mackenzie (Mac) and the Doctor's relationship :) If interested, my other 3 series are The Academic Series (the Professor), The Lunar Cycle (Evy Daniels), and The Heart of Time Saga (the Angel) ;) This story will focus on my OC/Time Lady, Mac AKA Naery, the official pairing name for her and the Doctor being Thaery :) This story will largely follow the events that Mac is aware of and a part of, but will also include some scenes with the Doctor elsewhere and possibly others when they talk about her. This will a Doctor/OC series :)

This will essentially be a revision of Series 6 to incorporate the existence of another Time Lord, Mac. This story will be updated every day with each chapter being 1 episode, however the Christmas special will be two chapters. There may be a few mini-sodes popping up along the way for a total of about 18 chapters ;)

Quick physical description of Mac: she's a tallish woman with wavy ginger hair that goes to a little past her shoulders, she tends to wear it hanging free with a headband (a cool one ;)). She's pale but has a few freckles splattered across her nose and light green eyes eyes. She tends to wear a strapless or thin-strapped dress that's a little more fitted on the top and loose for the skirt that goes to about her knees. She wears flats and a cardigan with bigger-on-the-inside pockets to it :) For a reference, an actress that I think is similar to Mac is Emma Stone ;) She is currently on her 8th incarnation and, as of the end of Endeavors in Wooing, was 917 :)

~8~ is a scene break.

"_italics_" is Gallifreyan.

'_italics_' is telepathic communication.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who...or we'd have seen the Master pop back up again during 11's run :)

Enjoy!

~8~

Space & Time

The Doctor was leaning against the railing of the TARDIS, watching as Mac worked beneath the console, on her back, on a sort of rolling dolley, Rory below the glass floor helping, the boy with blackened goggles over his eyes. HE had been the one working under the console, but after he'd accidently set the console on fire by crossing the wrong wire, Mac had pulled him out from the dolley, tugged him up, and taken his place while he put the fire out. He was rather content to allow her to do it though, she was lying there with her ankles crossed, just working away and…

"Eyes off her legs Doctor," Amy called as she walked past him to lean on the railing next to him.

"Not a chance, Pond," he smiled.

Amy shook her head at him, eyeing him a moment, seeing the softness of his smile as he gazed at Mac working on. She and Rory had no idea what had happened but something certainly had. They'd gone off on their honeymoon and returned to see there was a new closeness between the Doctor and Mac. It was touching to witness it, them together, she was well aware of the Doctor's attempts at flirting with the girl that seemed to go right over her head but Mac had actually appeared to have caught on now to the Doctor's efforts. She noticed the Time Lady blushing at times, nudging the Doctor playfully, linking her arm with his and squeezing it in affection. She really couldn't wait to see what happened between them…

And she was rather relieved that Mac had noticed and seemed nearly reciprocating of the flirting. She would never admit it out loud but…what Mac had said and implied in Venice had really shaken her and, for a short while, she'd actually thought Mac might have really been attracted to Rory. She realized now it was just a ploy to get her to sort of have a 'taste of her own medicine' so to speak, to see her guy with another girl hanging off him, much like Rory was forced to see her hanging off the Doctor at times. And the Dream Lady event had really shaken her up. She knew that the Doctor, if the pollen had gotten him would have been a bit more subtle in why he was doing it all, but she knew Mac was always more honest than the Doctor was, she'd really let her have it about how she'd treated Rory. And she deserved it.

Now though, she was more at ease to see Mac starting to lean more towards the Doctor.

And, speaking of the Doctor, there was something bothering her that she really did have to talk to HIM about. She would have tried Mac first but, given how confused the woman had appeared at her wedding, Mac had NO idea what had happened between the Pandorica and appearing there, what the Doctor had done and said to her over the years. She was sure the Doctor had told the Time Lady, but she wasn't sure if Mac could really explain what was going on as she hadn't lived it.

"Listen…" she began, glancing at the Doctor, "Can we talk?"

Instantly the Doctor's happy smile froze and his eyes widened, his face morphing into an expression of horror as he started backing away, "RORY!"

Amy quickly pulled him forward by the lapels, "No, shut up," she quickly put a hand over his mouth, though his eyes were still rather wide, "I just got a question that's all."

"Amy?" Mac called, wheeling out from under the console to look at her, sitting up on the small dolley, "Everything alright?"

"You ok up there?" Rory asked as well from below.

The Doctor tried to speak, but with Amy's hand over his mouth still it came out rather muffled though Mac thought it sounded like he was trying to say, 'Yeah, fine, no problem' or something similar.

"What are you doing?" Amy leaned to the side to look through the glass floor at Rory.

"Helping Mac," Rory shrugged, "Um…" he pointed at the beam running down from the console, "It's humming, is that ok?"

"Mmmzzzfnrry," the Doctor spoke.

"Um, Amy?" Mac called with a small laugh, nodding at the Doctor's mouth that was still covered.

"Oh, sorry," Amy pulled her hand away.

"Yeah, it's fine Rory," the Doctor repeated, "We're just entering conceptual space. Imagine a banana or anything curved! Actually don't, since it's not curved or like a banana…forget the banana."

"It's like static," Mac explained, "Like a sort of area of space where scanners and other things start to get jammed a bit. The TARDIS is just trying to compensate for it."

"Hold on, is he helping you fly the TARDIS?" Amy looked between them.

"Just attach thermo-couplings 2, 7, and 11," Mac told him, "NOT like the Doctor showed you."

"Oi!" the Doctor pouted, walking over to her and holding out his hands to help her up, "I showed him how to attach them just fine, thank you."

"Yes, you did," she nodded, "You showed him how to attach them upside down though. Literally, you were hanging upside down from the harness, not exactly helpful when he's right side up."

"How come _he _gets a go?" Amy frowned, "You two never let me have a go."

"Don't," Rory knocked on the glass floor, "Seriously. I let her drive my car once."

"Yeah. To the end of the road."

"Yeah where, according to Amy, there was an unexpected house."

"Oh, he's jealous because I passed my test first time."

"You cheated. You wore a skirt."

"I didn't wear a skirt."

"Luck would have worked too."

The Doctor, who was hunched over at the console, looked over at that, only to see that Mac had come to lean on the console beside him, watching the humans, amused, and realized that he was on direct eyelevel with the hem of her skirt and found himself looking more downward, blushing, only to realize, yet again, that he was now looking at the rest of her legs.

"My eyes are up here Doctor," Mac joked, pointing to her eyes.

His head snapped up to look at her _eyes_ this time, seeing her rising her eyebrow at his blatant staring, "I know," he smirked at her, not starting to stutter. Now that she knew he was flirting with her, he felt more confident in doing so, he was going to win her hearts if it was the last thing he did, "Believe me, I know where those sparkling stars are, I was just distracted by the um…" he glanced at her legs and back at her, "Milky Way."

Mac looked away at that, shaking her head and blushing. She knew that before, if she hadn't realized he was flirting, she would have probably asked him if he just thought that she needed a tan or something, she was a bit pale, so it made sense her legs looked 'milky' in color or something. She'd tried, she actually had, when she and Amy and the Doctor had gone to Space Florida, she'd tried to tan…and gotten burned. It appeared her skin was rather sensitive, luckily, being a Time Lord, the burn had gone away quickly enough but it hadn't even left her with a tan as a result, she still looked just as pale.

"Using star metaphors Doctor?" she glanced at him, "Bit old fashioned isn't it?" but she was smiling still.

He shrugged, "Worked for the great poets of old, didn't it?"

"You ever see Amy drive?" Rory called up to them, interrupting their little moment, though, instead of feeling irritated as the Doctor had in the past, he just winked at Mac and turned back to the console.

"No!" he replied.

"I haven't either," Mac agreed, moving to her own designated area of the console.

"Yeah well neither did her driving examiner," Rory muttered.

"Actually, it was this one," Amy pointed at her current miniskirt, "It was _this_ skirt..." and then the TARDIS went dark, "What was that?"

"Rory?" Mac called, leaning over to give him a look through the floor on an angle as he was standing closer to where Amy was than her.

"Sorry," he winced, "I um…dropped a thermo-coupling…"

"Oh how did you do that?!" the Doctor cried as Amy looked down at her husband and closed her eyes, working out what the Doctor hadn't by Rory's firm refusal to look up again, "I told you don't drop them! KENZIE told you not to drop them too so it wasn't just me! We specifically mentioned not dropping them."

"It was my fault," Amy sighed.

"Of course it wasn't your fault."

"It kinda was her fault," Rory told them.

"How do you figure that?" Mac blinked.

Amy glanced down at Rory and back to the aliens, "Because it was _my_ skirt, and _my_ husband, and _your_ glass floor."

Mac blinked again before grimacing, "Rory!"

The Doctor, realizing what they were saying as well, just moved over to Mac and slowly backed her away from Rory to sit on the jump seat, pointing at her warningly NOT to get up with her skirt and her dress and a glass floor and a human with less restraint than HIM down there. Honestly! He had been beneath the console plenty of times when Mac was above him and he NEVER looked up because of that. It was just rude!

"Sorry," Rory muttered.

"Well we've landed," the Doctor moved back to the console, "Emergency materialization, we should be fine. Should have locked on to the safest space available," he pulled a lever and the lights came back on.

"Safe is relative," Mac remarked and he turned to look back at her, only to see her looking at a small space down the little steps that led to the console, nearer to the doors…where another TARDIS was sitting.

"What's happened?" Amy frowned, looking back and forth between the miniature TARDIS and the Time Lords.

"Safest spot available," the Doctor breathed, "The TARDIS has materialized inside of itself."

"Is that supposed to happen?" Rory made his way up to the console to join them, allowing Mac to get up as the Doctor slowly approached it.

"Take a guess."

"No?"

"Well done," Mac patted Rory's shoulder, "Oi!" she called to the Doctor as he touched the smaller TARDIS's door, "Be careful!"

"What are you doing?" Amy asked, before turning to Mac, "What's he doing?"

"Absolutely no idea," the Doctor answered as Mac shrugged, only to step into the smaller TARDIS…and step back out of the main TARDIS doors beside them.

"Uh, ok that is a bit weird…"

Mac made her way down the steps and over to the smaller TARDIS, opening the door, making the larger doors open as well, and stuck her hand through, waving it out the larger doors till the Doctor grabbed it gently and placed a kiss onto it before she pulled her arm back.

"That is actually pretty cool," Rory chuckled softly.

"Oh, I'm glad you're entertained Rory," the Doctor turned and headed back up towards the console as Mac made her way around the smaller TARDIS, examining it, "Now that were stuck here for all eternity. At least you won't be bored."

"Wait, what, we're stuck?" Amy gaped at that.

"It looks like the inside of the TARDIS fused with the outside," Mac called as she made her way back around to the front.

"Ooh that's worse than a time loop, a space loop," the Doctor sighed, "Nothing can enter or leave this ship ever again!"

Of course, because the Doctor said it with such certainty…the larger doors opened without the smaller ones doing so first and MAC stepped into the TARDIS.

"There are some sentences you should just stay away from Doctor," the Second Mac laughed.

"Who the _hell_ are you?!" Amy blinked at the woman.

"She's me," Mac moved over to look at herself, "From the future."

"Tell me exactly what's happened!" the Doctor called, "And/Or when do we get married."

The Second Mac blinked, "Not THAT far in the future Doctor, barely 1 minute," she laughed, "I can tell you that the exterior shell of the TARDIS seems to have drifted forwards in time. So, stepping into that box," she nodded at the smaller TARDIS, "Let's you step into this one," she gestured around, "A short while in the past."

"Really?" Mac eyed her, "How'd we work that one out?"

The Second Mac shrugged, "Just repeating what I, er…YOU heard me say."

"Ok, when does my Kenzie step inside the box?" the Doctor asked, "And does she HAVE to? I rather like having two of you here," he smiled at her, "I FINALLY get to see double."

Mac shook her head at that, recalling how she'd thought his first efforts at flirting with her, saying that he wished he'd smacked his head on a tree hard enough to see double of her was just brain trauma, "I have to Doctor, the timelines have to be maintained."

"As soon as I, er you," the Second Mac continued to Mac, "Kiss the Doctor."

"Ok," Mac nodded, turning to make her way up to the Doctor, "Come on then," but the Doctor just pouted and shook his head, "What?" she eyed him oddly, "Doctor we have to maintain the established chain of events or the timeline collapses."

"I know," he nodded, "I just…" he sighed, "Kissing you means you go away. And I don't ever want that to happen. I want you with me always Kenzie," he looked at her, "Things are better when you're here."

Mac smiled softly at that and reached out to touch his face, "That's very sweet," she whispered, leaning in to kiss him for it, "But I'm not going away, just…going to the past so that I can get you to say that to the other me, maybe earn you a kiss from her for it too," she offered him a wink and turned to go towards the smaller TARDIS, stepping into it.

"So, is that it?" Rory asked as the Second Mac, now the only Mac, moved to join them by the console, giving the Doctor's arm a soft squeeze for his efforts.

"Yeah, are we ok now?" Amy looked at the Doctor.

"No," he sighed, gesturing at how the smaller TARDIS was still there, "We're still trapped…" he trailed off as the larger doors opened and another Amy and Rory stepped in this time, "What are you doing?"

"You told us to get into the police box," the Second Rory explained, "Well, from your point of view, you're about to tell us to get into the police box. From our point of view, you just told us to get into the police box. Which is why we got into the police box. Which is why we're here…"

"Do I have to remember all of that?" Rory frowned.

"It sort of just happens."

"Ooh," Amy grinned at herself, eyeing the woman, "Do I really look like that?"

"Yeah, yeah you do," the Second Amy winked.

"Mmm, I'd give you a driving license."

"Oh I bet you would."

"Hey!" the Doctor cut in, not about to have the world end because Pond 1 and Pond 1.2 decided to flirt with herself. There would be no world ending due to flirting…unless it was him flirting with Mac, what a way to go! "Stop that! You two," he turned, pushing Amy towards the box as Mac helped nudge Rory along, "Into the police box, now, run."

"So what now?" the Second Amy started to move forward.

"You two stay where you are," the Doctor pointed at the Second Amy and Second Rory, now the only ones, before he rushed back to the console.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Just stay here," Mac joined them, "He's got to set up a controlled temporal implosion. It's the only way to reset the TARDIS."

"But," the Doctor added, "Unless I find exactly the right lever to control the implosion…we're all going to die."

"You don't know which lever?" Amy nearly ground out at that, sensing the answer in his words.

"No," the Doctor merely turned to them, smiling, "But I'm about to find out."

Mac pulled the Ponds aside as the larger doors opened and a Second Doctor ran in, "The wibbly lever!"

The Doctor pointed at himself with a laugh, "The wibbly lever!" he turned and pulled it, "Thank you!" before he ran to the smaller TARDIS, "Kenzie," he paused, pointing at her and winking, "See you in a mo," before he rushed into the box, the smaller TARDIS dematerializing moments later.

"Ok!" the Second and now Only Doctor grinned, "We're back in normal flight!" he draped his arms over the Ponds' shoulders, "The TARDIS is no longer inside itself, the localized time field is no longer about to implode and rip a hole in all causality. But, just in case…" he glanced at Amy, "Pond put some trousers on."

"Oi," Amy frowned as the Doctor pulled his arms away and took Mac's hand to walk with her back to the console, "Mac's wearing a skirt too."

"Yes, but I would NEVER do that to her," the Doctor turned, "And, if Rory ever tried to, he knows I'd throw him into a supernova like the manual," he pointed at Rory, a playful smile on his face, a laugh in his voice, but the Ponds knew he was dead serious despite that.

Mac shook her head, "Come on Doctor, I need your help fixing the thermo-couplings now."

The Doctor just nodded and turned to follow her down under the console.

A/N: Urg, power didn't come back on at my house till 10:12pm :( Good thing my mom and I prepared and got lots of ice for the perishables lol :) I went to my town's library and used their computers to get this and Merlin edited. I'm just glad that the power's back and I can post on time ;)

I am SO excited for this series :) I really can't wait for TIA, AGMGTW, and TW(?)ORS ;)

Some notes on reviews...(from the end of Endeavors in Wooing)...

I bet your wedding will be lovely :) I won't ever have one :( My parents have sort of ruined the idea of marriage for me and my siblings the notion of relationships (fidelity issues, verbal abuse, anger issues, etc) so I'm pretty damaged when it comes to relationships, makes me think I won't ever find someone who could put up with me. I think that's why I try to make the relationships for the OCs as sweet (but realistic) as possible, at least they can be happy :) I'm not sure if I'd write one where I met all the OCs. I can say that if, in the future, I ever stop writing, I would want to go out with a bang and do a giant crossover where ALL the OCs meet each other, I might slip myself in at the end to say goodbye to them, but that would probably (hopefully) be a very FAR time in the future. I think I have enough story ideas to last till 2020 lol :)

I'm not sure if I'd write a Spiderman story. I couldn't really get into the 2002-2007 series and I haven't seen the movies in entirety yet, so I can't say. I do think, if I did one, I'd write one where the OC would have some sort of superhero quality to them though (whether it was powers of their own or something like Batman where it's just a skill they have and no power). I feel like only someone with powers and a secret identity of their own would truly be able to understand what it's like to live that life with all the lies and danger and strain :)

Yup, Thaery :) I try to make the next story come out the very next day :) I can say that for Merlin, Once Upon a Time, and the Big Bang Theory, I would be posting the next story the same day though ;)

I'm not sure if I'd do a Walking Dead story, I've seen a few episodes, but I couldn't really get into it, so I can't say. There's always a chance that, once I see the whole series, I'll change my mind :)


	2. The Impossible Astronaut

The Impossible Astronaut

Mac sighed as she entered her lab in UNIT, shutting the door behind her. She was back in UNIT, NOT to stay, but more to check in on things. The Doctor might have still been an employee of them for decades now (to UNIT at least) but they hadn't seen him often. She didn't want that to happen. She still felt so terribly about how she'd treated the people she'd worked with, so distant and cold and harsh to them, and then for them to nearly be swindled by the Shansheeth? She'd wanted to just pop in for a short stay, say hello, see if there weren't any cases that were open that needed help or if there were any new developments in the Science wing that she'd need to tamper with and remove. She'd spent much of the day doing just that.

She stepped in, moving to a clipboard to look at a small list of papers to sign off on, the scientific advancements she was allowing. She looked up, frowning when she saw the door was open and blinked, shaking her head and made her way over to it, peering into the hallway. She must not have shut the door the whole way. That was one thing she'd always disliked about her door, it was slightly off center so if she didn't close it entirely it would start to swing open. She stepped back into the room, shutting the door firmly this time before she glanced at the monitors she had set up and smiled, turning to go sit before them instead of looking at the pictures, time to find the Doctor and see what he was up to.

She'd ushered the Doctor off when he'd brought her there, knowing that he was actually almost excited to leave her with UNIT. No not excited that he was leaving her there, but excited because it meant she wouldn't be there to snoop. Apparently he had a surprise he wanted to give her and didn't want her to peek at it. She wasn't sure what it was, but starting up one of her old programs again, it was already going mad. It was the program that she had to try and find the Doctor, it usually went off when he landed on Earth in the modern era, but it also was a sort of search program to look him up throughout Earth's history.

Apparently he'd gone to the Restoration era. There was a reference to a man being caught, naked, in a young woman's chambers, a portrait of him that was quite scandalous for the times as evidence of his presence. He'd been thrown in a prison cell but escaped that night when a ball of light spirited him away. He'd also gone to a WWII camp, a description of the same man helping one of the POWs escape…a name, she recognized, as Colonel Mace's father, only to be caught mid-escape. He'd managed to get himself out of that one along with Jeremy Mace. She smiled to herself, watching a video of the Doctor dancing along with Laurel and Hardy in a clip of 'Sons of the Desert.' He ran up to the camera and waved, before winking and saluting and she knew that it was a small salute to her as well.

"Oh Doctor," she shook her head at him, seeing him slip off as another piece of information popping up. It must have looked so odd, to other UNIT members if they came by, to see her sitting there and actually trying to find the Doctor. Mostly she'd run this program to keep away from him, to avoid him. And now she was actively looking for him, wanting to find out what he was doing, what he was up to, where he was…

She looked over at the door as someone knocked on it and it slowly opened, "Agent Mackenzie?"

Her mouth nearly dropped open when she saw who it was, "Nathan," she smiled, getting up to go give the young boy a hug, seeming to startle him, "How are you? How's Barclay doing?"

"Fine, we're fine, adjusting and all..." he blinked at her, "Sorry," he shook his head, "Sorry, it's just a bit weird to see you and know it's YOU. Last time, on the 200, you were…"

"Different?" she supplied, "Sorry, Time Lord," she shrugged, "We die and change our faces."

"Right," he nodded, before remembering what he'd come there for, "Um, this was left for you, Colonel Mace wanted us to give it to you."

"Thanks," she took the small blue envelope, Nathan giving her a salute before he headed down the hall. She shut the door and turned around, eyeing the front, it was addressed to 'Kenzie' and that made her pause, only the Doctor called her that but…why would he be sending her an envelope? She turned it over, seeing it had a number 1 on the back, before she opened it, pulling out a small card, a date, time and map reference printed on it. She slowly lowered the card and looked at her watch, before she turned and rushed out of the room. She'd need to hurry if she wanted to make it to Utah on time.

~8~

Amy and Rory stepped off of a bright yellow school bus into the middle of the Utah desert, both of them with backpacks on, in plaid, squinting against the sun, "Thanks!" Amy called back to the driver.

"You're very welcome," he replied, before shutting the doors behind them and carrying on with his journey.

"This is it, yeah?" Amy looked around, pulling a card and TARDIS blue envelope from her pocket, looking at the coordinates and where they were, checking the time on her watch, "The right place?"

Rory nodded, "Nowhere, middle of? Yeah, this is it."

"Howdy!" a voice shouted behind them. The Ponds spun around to see the Doctor lying out on a hood of a red station wagon, a Stetson on his head.

"Doctor!" Amy cheered, rushing over to him with Rory.

"Ha ha! It's the Ponds!" he hopped off the car and moved to hug them, "Pond One and Pond Two! Hello, Ponds, come here!"

"So someone's been a busy boy then, eh?" Amy teased, nudging him.

"Did you see me?" he grinned.

Amy shook her head at him, she and Rory had started a sort of project when they'd been in one of the museums and seen something that looked oddly like a carving of the TARDIS…by a pond. After that they'd tried their hand at keeping track of his past exploits and found that a lot of things they were personally interested in, different points in history and movies and shows, the Doctor would have a reference or mention in. It was almost like he was trying to wave at them through history.

Now they knew he really WAS.

"Of course! Stalker!"

"Flirt!"

"Husband," Rory cut in with a small smile.

"And Rory the Roman!" the Doctor threw his arms out and gave Rory a tight hug, "Oh, come here!"

"Hey, nice hat," Rory laughed as he pulled away.

"I wear a Stetson now, Stetsons are cool," was all the Doctor could say before a gunshot went off and the hat was knocked right off his head. The three of them tensed and slowly turned around to see River Song standing there, smirking, blowing at the muzzle of her gun.

"Hello, sweetie," she grinned.

But the Doctor just looked at her with a soft smile, before he made his way over to her, hugging her tightly. River seemed surprised for a moment, from what the Ponds could see, but then he whispered something in her ear and she gasped, looking even MORE surprised before she hugged him back instantly. The Doctor swayed a little as he held River, his hand on the back of her head gently, just holding her.

"Doctor?" Rory called, frowning just a little, not entirely sure what was going on, "Where's Mac?"

The Doctor took a breath and stepped away from River a moment, though they could see him standing very close to her still, and looked at his watch. Amy glanced at Rory questioningly, she could have sworn she'd almost seen tears in his eyes reflected in the sun for a second, "Oh, Kenzie's just a little late, but she should be here right…about…" he started to smile when they could hear the sound of a helicopter drawing closer, "Now."

They looked up to see there really was a helicopter heading for them, a large UNIT painted on the side of it. They squinted, blocking the sun behind it with their hands as the helicopter landed, Mac hopping out of the side of it, ducking down as she made her way a safe distance away before she turned to wave at the pilot as the helicopter took off again. She turned to face them, jogging over to the as the craft departed, smiling as she saw them all, "Hello."

The Doctor smiled widely and walked over to her, "Hi," he breathed, before taking her face in his hands and kissing her deeply, startling her a little.

Mac blinked, shifting as she pulled away, not entirely sure how comfortable she felt with a kiss like the one he'd just given her, "What was that for?" she eyed him. That…wasn't like the Doctor, at all, they were taking it slow and he was still trying to 'woo' her again and a kiss like _that_…it was a little too…much at the moment.

"Nothing," he rubbed his thumb along her cheek a moment, "Just…missed you," he whispered, "Missed seeing you smiling like that and…just missed you," he stepped closer and hugged her tightly.

Mac blinked and frowned over his shoulder, looking at the Ponds and River questioningly for his words, but the Ponds could only shake their heads, not having a clue what was wrong. River though, looked solemn but silent, and she knew River knew what might be bothering him…but she wouldn't say.

~8~

"You know," River whispered to the Doctor as she sat across from him at a booth in a diner later that day, Mac, Rory, and Amy over at the counter, getting food, "Don't you?" the Doctor looked at her, "Who I am."

The Doctor swallowed and nodded, reaching out to put his hand on hers as it rested on the table, "Yeah," he agreed, "_I_ do."

The emphasis was not lost on River as she followed the flicker of his eyes back towards Mac, "Mackenzie doesn't then?"

"No."

River turned her hand over, squeezing his, "It'll be alright Doctor."

"I know," he offered her a smile, that action…what she'd done, turning her hand over to hold his, it reminded him of Mac, "Some things will, some things won't."

"C'est la vie," River remarked.

The Doctor smiled at that, giving her hand one more squeeze before he pulled his hand away as the other three headed back, Amy sitting beside the Doctor while Mac sat beside River, Rory on the end of the booth.

"Right then," River cleared her throat, pulling out her diary, "Where are we? Have we done Easter Island yet?"

Mac blinked and frowned when she saw the Doctor pull out a small journal of his own, "Yes, I've got Easter Island!"

"They worshipped you there! Have you seen the statues?"

"Jim the Fish," the Doctor cut in.

"Oh, Jim the Fish! How is he?"

"Still building his dam."

"Sorry, what are you two doing?" Rory shook his head, seeing even MAC looked confused.

"They're both time travelers," Amy shrugged, "So they never meet in the right order. They're syncing their diaries."

"But that's just it…" Mac blinked at the Doctor, "YOU don't have one yet…" she eyed him, leaning in a bit, "Your eyes…" she murmured, "You're older than my Doctor…"

He let out a gentle laugh at that, "Yeah," he agreed, "Taking a bit of a hop into the past."

"Hold on, you're…a future Doctor?" Rory stared at him.

"How far in the future?" Amy shook her head, "How old are you?"

"1103," he answered.

"You were 908 the last time we saw you."

"My Doctor's 909," Mac remarked.

"Time travel," he waved her off, though he beamed when he heard Mac call him 'her' Doctor, "You can't keep it straight in your head."

"Doctor what's wrong?" Mac reached out to put her hand on his, "Something's going on…"

He sighed, turning his hand over to hold hers, moving his other hand to hers and tracing patterns on the back of it with a finger, "You know me, I'm always running. Only now…now I've been running...faster than I've ever run," he took a breath, "And it's time for me to stop," he nodded, looking at them, "Tonight I'm going to need you all with me."

"Ok," Amy nodded slowly, "We're here, what's up?"

"A picnic!" the Doctor kissed Mac's hand before patting it and letting it go, "And then a trip. Somewhere different, somewhere brand-new."

"And where's that?" Mac tried to smile, but she was too concerned to even joke that they'd been to quite a few places in time and space.

"Space...1969."

Mac looked at him for that, "I thought you and Martha were already there?"

"We were on the moon," he held up a finger at that, "This time…this time, it's earth. It's always earth, in the end," he murmured, looking wistfully at Mac as she glanced at River to see her steadily looking at her diary…which was NOT making her feel any better.

~8~

"Salut!" the Doctor cheered, holding up a wine bottle, as he stretched out on a large picnic blanket that had been set up on the side of a lake in Utah, Lake Silencio the Doctor had said. Amy, Rory, and River were sitting close by, Mac with her legs stretched out before her, the Doctor having dropped his head onto her lap. It made Amy and Rory a little suspicious, as well as Mac, to see him being THAT familiar with her, to see him acting almost as if physical space didn't exist between them. The Ponds were hopeful it meant that the Doctor in the future was closer to Mac, that she was closer to him as well, but Mac…she was just getting more and more concerned.

If she and the Doctor were so close that he could act this comfortably around her, kiss her like he had when he'd first seen her…then WHERE was she? Why wasn't she with him now? Had he done what his past self had and slipped away on a surprise and gone to see her past self? Had something happened to her and she wasn't with him again? He HAD said that he'd missed her. Did that mean she hadn't been with him for a while? She wanted to ask, but she knew that he wouldn't say.

"Salut!" the Ponds and River held up their small wine glasses, Mac holding hers up but not saying a word, trying to work out what was going on.

"So when are we going to 1969?" Rory asked.

"And since when do you drink wine?" Amy laughed, eyeing the Doctor as he tried to sit up to take a sip right out of the bottle.

"I'll have you know I HAVE drunk it sometime," he stuck out his tongue at Amy, "I was in Craig's with Kenzie."

"Yes, where you took one sip and…" Mac sighed as he took a large gulp and turned to spit it out beside him, "Did that."

"Oh, wine's horrid!" he grimaced, coughing as Mac patted him on the back, rubbing his back, "I thought it would taste more like the gums."

"Who's that?" Amy asked suddenly, looking out at a ridge of rocks, making them all look over but there was nothing there.

"Who's who?" Rory asked.

Amy glanced at him, "Sorry, what?"

"What did you see? You said you saw someone."

"No, I didn't," Amy took a sip of wine.

"Ah!" the Doctor cut in, as Mac opened her mouth to counter that, seeing her about to turn and try to look around and see what Amy had seen, "The moon, look at it! Of course, you lot did more than look, didn't you? Big silvery thing in the sky, you couldn't resist it. Quite right."

"Doctor…" Mac frowned, "You're being odd."

"When is he not?" River countered, giving the Doctor a look as though she were trying to help him cover something.

"The moon landing was in '69," Rory realized, "Is that where we're going?"

"Oh, a lot more happens in '69 than anyone remembers," the Doctor said softly, starting to look down and Mac could see a terrible sadness starting to swirl in his eyes, a regret, a bitterness, an anger even…disappointment and sorrow just swirling in his endless green depths, "Human beings... I thought I'd never get done saving you."

They turned back, hearing a sound behind them to see an old pickup truck pulling up to the lake a short distance away. The Doctor patted Mac's knee as he slowly pushed himself up to wave at the old man that stepped out of the truck.

"Who's he?" Amy squinted at him as River, Rory, and Mac stood with the Doctor.

"Oh, my God!" River suddenly gasped, staring at the lake.

They turned to look over, seeing at there was an astronaut, a literal astronaut suit, standing in the lake, facing them, "What's going on?" Mac turned to the Doctor, seeing a recognition and resignation in his eyes, "Doctor?"

He just smiled at her and took her hand, squeezing it, "_I love you Naery,_" he murmured to her, "_I really do. So I need you to promise me that you'll stay here._"

"_Why?_" she shook her head, not understanding why he'd switched to Gallifreyan, but knowing it had to be very serious for him to do so.

"_Please,_" he stepped closer to her, taking her other hand, "_I need you to do this, and you can't ask me why._"

Mac searched his eyes, seeing a desperation in them, a need for her to say she'd do as he asked, "_I don't like this,_" she warned him.

He let out a breath, seeing that she was agreeing, "_Thank you._"

"_Don't thank me yet,_" she shook her head, "_I might be doubly cross with you after you do whatever it is you're going to do._"

"_I'll welcome it,_" he winked at her, leaning in to kiss her gently, stealing her breath away with how deep and sensual he made that kiss, but Mac could feel her hearts breaking as well…it didn't feel the same as a kiss where he missed her or a kiss where he'd see her in five minutes…

It felt more like a kiss goodbye.

He pulled away, resting his forehead to hers a moment, taking a breath to gather himself, before he turned to look at the Ponds and River, "You all need to stay back. Whatever happens now, you do not interfere. Clear?" he waited till the Ponds nodded before he started to head forward, pausing by River, "River," he looked at her, moving to stand before her, "I just want you to know…how proud I am of you," he told her quietly, "Look at you Dr. Song," he started to smile, "You are a truly remarkable woman, brilliant, strong, and beautiful," he let out a gentle laugh, "Just like your mum eh?"

River took a shaky breath, "Thank you," she whispered.

Mac looked between the two, frowning, well…at least she knew that the Doctor in the future knew who River was, that was at least one good thing, they'd finally learn that…hopefully.

The Doctor gave River a quick kiss on the forehead before cast them all one more glance, his gaze lingering on Mac a moment longer, sending her a wink before he turned and walked across he beach towards the astronaut till he came to stand before it. They watched as he spoke to it, the astronaut lifting its visor, before he gestured to something near the astronaut's arm, before he bowed his head.

"Don't…" Mac started to shake her head, seeing the astronaut lift its arm, "Don't…"

"What's he doing?" Amy squinted, glancing at Mac as the woman started shaking, realizing that Mac had worked something out she hadn't.

Mac flinched, letting out a shaking breath, her entire body trembling as the astronaut fired at the Doctor, making him stagger backwards. She felt like her entire world had just…stopped. She could see Amy screaming as the ginger human ran past her towards the Doctor, Rory and River rushing to hold her back, shouting as well, but she couldn't hear her. She felt like she couldn't hear anything…except the sound of the next blast that hit the Doctor, sending him to his knees.

She felt froze, numb, she couldn't breathe, she felt like she couldn't move just…stare. She tried to will herself to move, but her body wasn't listening. She just…froze. She couldn't move, she couldn't run to help, she couldn't do anything and she hated that. It wasn't her, it wasn't like her to just stand there and watch as the…as the regeneration energy started to pour out of the Doctor…

But…but that wasn't…that shouldn't be possible unless…

She didn't even have time to finish that thought as another shot rang out and the Doctor fell to the ground…and didn't get back up.

She could hear herself let out a strangled noise before she felt sand beneath her knees as she sunk to them. The world blurred around her and she realized her eyes were filling with tears but she was shaking so badly she couldn't even lift her hand to her face to try and wipe them away. She couldn't hear anything else after that expect a ringing in her ears, like a high-pitched whine. She could feel her hearts racing painfully in her chest and could feel herself trembling. Her chest clenched painfully from lack of air but even though she was gasping, she felt like she couldn't get enough air to her lungs. The world around her was slowing down as well, it seemed like Amy and Rory and River were all running in slow motion towards the Doctor and she felt her gaze lock on his prone form just…staring at it from a distance. She couldn't get up, even as River tried to shoot the astronaut as it walked back into the lake, even as Amy collapsed by the Doctor and tried to shake him awake, even as Rory grabbed the man's wrist to try and find some form of life.

Still she remained where she'd fallen, her eyes locked on the Doctor…he wasn't getting up and she knew…the astronaut had struck him in the middle of his regeneration cycle, he was already dead, he couldn't make it to the next one. He shouldn't have been able to so she didn't know why she was so shocked that he wasn't getting up. No…she knew what it was. Seeing him starting to regenerate…she'd had hope, she'd had hope that he'd be ok, that he'd just come back as another man instead of permanently die…

And then he'd died anyway.

She couldn't bear it. So she closed her eyes, she closed her eyes as the old man stepped past her, closed her eyes the moment she saw the gasoline container in his hand as he headed towards the others and she knew what was going to happen now. It had to be burned, their bodies were far too precious, there were thousands of things out there that would wage war on earth if it meant getting a single cell of the Doctor's body, of her body. Alive, they could defend themselves. Dead…it was all too easy to get to them. And they couldn't let that happen.

But she couldn't look, she couldn't bear to watch him burn, so she kept her eyes closed.

~8~

Mac was vaguely aware that River's jacket was around her as the trio tried to lead her back to the diner though she hardly felt it. She knew it was chilly out, but it didn't feel it to her, she just felt…cold. Just cold. She still had the ringing in her ears and the pressure on her chest and she just…didn't know. She almost wished she'd still been angry with the Doctor, that she hadn't learned what he'd done for her on Gallifrey, what he'd done to save the Universe, she wished she could still be bitter against him…maybe it would hurt less.

All around her River and Amy and Rory were talking, they hadn't stopped, not since that old man had left the beach with the Doctor's…she swallowed hard, with the Doctor's body still burning in a small boat sent adrift on the Lake. They just kept talking and she could only vaguely make out what they were saying. Something about the old man, Canton something, about the envelopes. He'd had one, she vaguely could recall. She honestly didn't know how she was at the diner right now, she'd fallen to her knees on the beach and then it was just a blur to her, flames and someone helping her up and a hug she was sure was meant to be reassuring but it wasn't…because it wasn't the Doctor's hug. And now she was in the diner, without him, and she couldn't even focus on what the others were saying. She was just staring at the booth they'd been sitting in.

There was something else about the envelopes. The numbers on them. She was 1, River was 2, Amy and Rory 4, and Canton 5, she got that. They thought it meant that he'd invited someone else as 3 was missing. Or had the Doctor just gotten the numbers wrong again? He was so bad a lists and numbers and order…

She winced, thinking about him, and she was sure that Amy had hissed something along the lines of telling them to shut up. She couldn't be sure though. Rory was running somewhere, cutting into her vision of the booth, to a table in the back and that was the only time she looked way from the booth…when she saw a flash of blue and spotted another envelope in Rory's hand.

She slowly reached out and took it after he handed it to River, River seeming to know she wanted it and willingly giving it up. There it was, a 3 on the back.

She looked up when she saw the door to a back room open…and the Doctor stepped in. There was a straw in his mouth, a grin on his face, a bowtie around his neck as he just pointed at them with a laugh.

The envelope fell out of her hands as she stared at him.

"This is cold," she heard River say, the sound coming back to her world and she was acutely aware that River was now beside her, her arm around her shoulders as she glared at the Doctor, "Even by your standards, this is _cold_. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

The Doctor blinked at that, startled by the venom in her words, "Or, 'Hello,' as people used to say. I just popped out to get my special straw. It adds more fizz."

Mac just stared at him and slowly moved out of River's hold, towards him, "_Theta?_" her voice cracked as she gently reached out to touch his face.

The Doctor looked at her, his grin falling instantly, "_Naey, what's wrong?_" he breathed, seeing the tears in her eyes.

But Mac just shook her head and stepped closer, hugging him tightly as he held her to him, "What happened?" he looked at the three of them, "River?" he turned to her, feeling a cold patch on his chest, feeling Mac shaking in his arms and knew she was crying, "What happened?" he asked her very serious, "Tell me."

River could only shake her head at him, her mouth open, unable to say.

He looked back down at Mac, and reached out to touch her cheek, lifting her face to his, "_Naery what's happened?_" he searched her eyes, "_Tell me, please? Your tears break my hearts._"

"You're ok," she whispered in English, just hugging him again. She was sure that she'd just given away more than she should in saying that, but she couldn't focus, she was just in shock. After what she'd seen, to see him now…she could tell it was HER Doctor this time, the one who was 909 and not over 1000.

"Of course I'm ok," he held her closer, "I'm always ok," he looked down at her, "Especially now with you in my arms," he winked at her, "Eh?" he touched her face, wiping her tears away with the pad of his thumb, "I'm the king of ok."

Mac sniffled, starting to calm down a little, "That's the worst title you've ever come up with."

"Are we forgetting the Rotmiester?" he joked, earning the smallest of chuckles for it. He smiled in relief at that, pressing a kiss to Mac's forehead to comfort her from whatever was upsetting her so badly.

"I don't understand," Rory shook his head, "How can you be here?" he poked the Doctor, seeing he really was solid and there.

"I was invited," he nodded at the envelope on the floor, "Date, map reference. Same as you lot, I assume, otherwise it's a hell of a coincidence."

"River, what's going on?" Amy turned to her.

"How old are you right now Doctor?" River ignored her for a moment, turning to the Doctor.

"909, why?" he frowned.

"Yeah, but you said..." Amy began, but River cut her off, keeping her from revealing too much.

"So where does that leave us?" River asked, actually sounding heartbroken for a moment to think that this was the 'past' Doctor again, the one who didn't know who she was, "Jim the Fish? Have we done Jim the Fish yet?"

"Who's Jim the Fish?" the Doctor shook his head before feeling Mac flinch against him, the girl not too fond of the reminder that the future Doctor, the one who died, had known who Jim the Fish was, "Look, what are we all doing here?"

River looked at Mac, not sure what she wanted them to say, being a Time Lady, she'd know better than anyone. Mac took a breath, "We were given a mission," she supplied, "But we don't know what it was. Something about 1969 and the space program."

"And a man called Canton Everett Delaware III," River offered.

"Given a mission by whom?" the Doctor looked between them.

"Spoilers."

The Doctor's jaw tensed at that, he was starting to hate that word, especially because it meant something was being kept from him, something that had clearly upset Mac quite a bit. But he swore he'd get to the bottom of it.

~8~

Mac was sitting beneath the console, on the Doctor's hanging harness, just…needing a moment to herself to gather her thoughts. She shouldn't have done what she had, she shouldn't have let the Doctor know that something was wrong, that something involving him and his future had happened. She'd been in shock, according to Rory, she could vaguely recall him saying something about it as the three of them led her from the lake now, but that shouldn't have been any excuse. She should have pulled herself together, been stronger, been more aware of what was happening. And she just needed time to look at that Doctor, HER Doctor and not see his future self.

The Doctor was respecting her request for a moment alone…but from how he was rushing about around the console above her and how she could hear him speaking rapidly, he was trying to distract himself with rambling. So it wasn't a surprise when Amy, River, and Rory slowly made their way below the console floor to join her.

"Mac?" Amy moved over to her, crouching beside her and taking her hand as River moved to lean on a pole, "Explain it again."

Mac rubbed her head, "The Doctor on the…the lake was our Doctor's future."

"He's going to die?" Amy frowned, "Can't we do something?"

"We're all going to die one day Amy," River sighed, "It's a natural process, even for a Time Lord."

"We're not all going to arrange our own wake and invite ourselves," Rory countered, joining them, sitting on the bottom of the steps, "So the Doctor in the future, knowing he's going to die, recruits his younger self and all of us to...to what exactly? Avenge him?"

"The Doctor wouldn't avenge himself," Mac shook her head, "Others, maybe but not him."

"Save him?" Amy suggested.

"He'd give his life if it meant saving others."

"Well then we have to tell him," Amy decided, standing.

"We can't," Mac took her hand, stopping her from marching up the stairs to the console, as much as it was killing her to do this.

"We've told him all we can," River agreed, "We can't even tell him we've seen his future self. He's interacted with his own past. It could rip a hole in the universe."

"Except he's done it before," Amy pointed out.

"And, in fairness, the universe did blow up," Rory remarked.

"But he'd want to know."

"No," Mac shook her head, "He wouldn't. He hates goodbyes and endings and…" she swallowed hard, "He'd want to go on as long as possible without that hanging over him."

And if it meant it would hang over HER instead…so be it. Because the more it weighed on her, the more she knew she'd push to find a way to save him, to find a loophole, to find a way to help keep him alive. She HAD to because…if what she saw at the lake really was his end…she couldn't bear it. There HAD to be more to it than what she saw.

"You know," the Doctor called before his head dangled over the edge of the glass floor, looking down at them upside down, "I'm being extremely clever up here, and I'd rather like Kenzie back so that I can see her impressed expression if you don't mind."

Mac smiled at that and stood, moving to head up the stairs.

"I just don't understand it," Amy called to her, making her pause, "The way you reacted at the lake," she looked right at Mac, "How can you be ok with this, with…with letting him die?"

"If you think I'm ok with this Amy…then perhaps you're getting on a bit," Mac shook her head at Amy, "Best get your eyes checked," before she turned and headed up the stairs, Rory going with her.

"Don't bring up his death to her again Amy," River warned, knowing how devastating all this was to Mac. It was harder for the Time Lady, knowing the laws, knowing the consequences, knowing the likelihood of saving the Doctor was slim. Humans could hope, Time Lords were often faced with harsher realities. She gave Amy one more look before heading up the stairs after the others.

"Time isn't a straight line," the Doctor called to the humans as Amy finally joined them, the man rushing around the console till Mac made her way to her half and he stopped at his, "It's all bumpy-wumpy. There's loads of boring stuff, like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays, big temporal tipping points when anything's possible like getting a kiss without mistletoe," he winked at Mac, making her smile again, that last Christmas they'd had had been a Saturday, "The TARDIS can't resist them, she loves a party, so I give her 1969 and NASA, cos that's space in the '60s, and Canton Everett Delaware III, and this is where she's pointing…" he flicked on the monitor, all of them gathering around it to see a picture of a man in a suit.

"Washington DC, April 8th, 1969," Mac read off the screen.

"So why haven't we landed?" Amy asked.

"Because that's not where we're going," the Doctor told them, making even Mac frown at that.

"Where are we going?" Rory shook his head, not understanding.

"Home!" he cheered, moving away from the console, "Well, you two are. Off you pop and make babies. Dr Song, back to prison. Me, I'd rather like some alone time with Kenzie, go on a date, get married, have a good snog, whichever comes first," he turned and sat on the jump seat, crossing his arms as he looked at them, "Seriously?" he shook his head at them, "A mysterious summons? You think I'm just going to go?" he scoffed, "You think I'd risk doing something that daft when I've only just got Kenzie to agree to let me court her?" it was what he was officially calling it this time, his attempt to woo her. He knew she felt something for him, the courting, on Gallifrey, was meant to help two potential Chosens see if they were compatible, help them grow closer, it was essentially the formal and official version of wooing, "Who sent those messages?" he looked between the humans, Mac staying back at the monitor, trying to find more about Canton, "I know you know, I can see it in your faces. Don't play games with me. Don't ever, ever think you're capable of that."

"You're going to have to trust us this time," River said.

"Trust you?" he scoffed, "Sure," he stood and made his way to River, a hard look on his face, "But first of all, Dr. Song, just one thing...who are you? You're someone from mine and Kenzie's future, getting that, but who?" she was silent, "Ok, why are you in prison? Who did you kill? Hmm? Now, I love a bad girl, me, but trust you? Seriously?"

Mac looked over, seeing a heartbroken look on River's face when the Doctor asked her who she was. She knew that the future him knew River, that much was obvious, and River knew it too. It seemed like it was truly hurting her badly that this Doctor didn't know her. She'd seen a difference in how the future him treated River, more kindly, looked at her with more compassion and care, to see this Doctor so distrustful…she knew it would break her hearts too.

"Trust me then," Mac called to him.

"Ok," the Doctor said instantly and looked at her.

Mac closed her eyes, repeating words that had been said to her by him, "I need you to do this, and you can't ask me why."

The Doctor moved away from River and over to Mac, taking her hand and looking at her intently, "Are you being threatened? Is someone making you say that?"

"No," she shook her head, swallowing hard.

His eyes searched hers for a moment or two before he sighed, "You know I'd do anything for you."

"I know," she nodded, "And I'm sorry to ask this of you."

He let out a long breath, "But you wouldn't if you didn't have to," he knew. And all it did was make him realize…it had to be something with the timelines, with the law, while this Mac was just a bit more lenient than her last one had been, had hugged him after his massive flub on Mars, there were times, very serious moments, where he knew she'd follow the laws of their people. If she was asking him to do this…it truly meant that she couldn't tell him what was going on.

And that meant only one thing…it was his own timeline in play. Something about his future, possibly about a future version of himself, had gotten to her, and she was struggling just to cope. He couldn't force more on her by demanding answer she couldn't give.

"Ok," he took a breath, "Canton Everett Delaware III, have you found out who he is?"

Mac nodded and turned back to the scanner, "Ex-FBI," she said as the others gathered around the scanner to see the information, "Was fired though."

"What for?" the Doctor frowned, only to see 'attitude problems' listed as the reason.

"Six weeks after he left the Bureau, the President contacted him for a private meeting," River spotted.

"Yeah, 1969, who's President?"

"Richard Milhouse Nixon," both Mac and River said at once.

"Vietnam, Watergate," River murmured, "There's some good stuff too."

"Not enough," the Doctor remarked.

"Hippy!"

"Archaeologist."

"Children," Mac gave them both a look for that, "We need a plan," she turned to the Doctor, "An actual plan. This isn't like getting Vincent Van Gogh to take us to a church for a Krafayis, we're talking about the White House and the Oval Office. We have to be careful."

The Doctor nodded, "Right, time to be discreet, putting the engines on silent…" he reached over on the console and pulled a switch…making the Ponds wince at the screeching metal noise that filled the room, River quickly reaching over to flip the switch back to stop it, "Did you do something?" the Doctor popped his head around the console to look at her suspiciously.

"No, just...watching," River smiled innocently.

The Doctor eyed River for a long while, before he turned, "Putting the outer shell on invisible. Haven't done this in a while, big drain on the power."

"You can turn the TARDIS invisible?" Rory blinked at that as the Doctor pulled a lever…and blinding spotlights started to shine through the windows.

Mac quickly moved forward and pushed the lever down, "Almost."

"Er," the Doctor stepped over to her, "Did you touch something?"

"Just…helping," she smiled.

"Oh, thanks!" he beamed at that and kissed her temple, "Now, if I can just get this scanner…" he turned to it, starting to bang it, trying to get it to turn on, "Can't check the scanner, it doesn't work when we're cloaked. Um…"

"Give me a mo with it Doctor," Mac moved over to it, "I'll work it out."

He nodded, "Ok, you do that, I'll go see what's going on," he turned to head to the doors only to see the others trying to follow him, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you lot, wait a moment. We're in the middle of the most powerful city in the most powerful country on Earth. Let's take it slow," he looked at Mac, "Be back in a mo," he winked at her, seeing she looked tense, but stepped out of the box anyway.

Amy, Rory, and River pressed their ears to the door, listening as best they could while Mac rushed to get the scanner fixed, not liking this at all. Even though she knew that they were in the Oval Office, that there was just the president and Canton out there, she was finding herself getting very anxious about not being with him, or at least being able to see him. It was like she thought he'd truly disappear if he wasn't beside her or that if she couldn't see him then she was just imagining him being there and not dead at the lake.

"Is that a kid?" Amy frowned, trying to listen.

"Yeah," Rory nodded, "What's she talking about?"

"A spaceman," River mumbled.

"There's a child out there?" Mac looked over.

"A recording or a…a message," River corrected.

"It's over now," Rory told them.

Amy blinked and looked over at Mac, "Have you got that up…they just went quiet."

"Cos they spotted the Doctor," Mac reasoned, "Very nearly…" they trio ran back to the TARDIS just as there was a loud thump that actually managed to shake it. Mac closed her eyes and shook her head, "Every time," she muttered, looking over when she heard River say the same, the woman offering her a small smile. Mac turned back to the scanner and plugged a wire into it, making it spark and flicker on…

And then they could see it, the Doctor on the ground, what looked like the secret service holding him down, "Oh Doctor," Mac shook her head at him.

"Ow!" he was shouting, "Kenzie, got that scanner working yet?!"

"What do you think!?" Mac shouted back.

A man they recognized as Canton was holding President Nixon back, calling, "Get the President out of here! Sir, you have to go with them now!"

"Kenzie…a little help please," the Doctor squirmed.

Mac reached out and pulled a lever, making the scanner flicker to static a moment but the image remained and they could see all the secret service, Canton, and the president staring right at them through the monitor in shock, clearly the box was visible again.

"What the hell is that?!" Nixon breathed.

"Slippery," River remarked and they saw the Doctor slip out of the men's hold and sneak his way to the President's desk, sitting back and kicking his feet up.

"Always with the dramatics," Mac mumbled.

"Mr. President!" the Doctor called and the servicemen quickly jumped to their feet and turned around, aiming their guns at him, River reached out and grabbed Mac's hand, seeing her tense at the sight and knew where her mind had gone, the astronaut holding whatever blaster or weapon was in its arm at the Doctor, but the Doctor himself seemed just fine, "That child just told you everything you need to know, but you weren't listening. Never mind, the answer's yes. I'll take the case!" he grinned, but the men remained with their guns on him, "Fellas, the guns, really? I just walked into the highest security office in the United States, parked a big blue box on the rug. You think you can just shoot me?"

Mac was out the door before Amy, Rory, or River could blink, seeing the Doctor baiting the men and knowing, from experience, that guards and service men who were trained and sworn and paid to protect from a threat to their president would not hesitate to do just that.

"Stop it!" Mac shouted at the Doctor as she ran out of the box.

The Doctor leapt to his feet, "Don't shoot!"

Canton looked at the man, hearing something in his voice that wasn't like what he'd heard before. He could see it too, in the Doctor's face, in his eyes and expression, the man was more concerned for the woman that the servicemen were now turning their guns on than himself. That could be useful to know in the future, a way to make the man stop or agree to something. Even though he wasn't a FBI member any more, he still thought like one. Any leverage was useful, everyone had a pressure point.

"Don't shoot us either," Rory called as he and Amy stepped out after River, the woman having rushed after Mac, all three of them holding up their hands though Mac just stood there, looking at the Doctor, "Very much not in need of getting shot. Look, we've got our hands up."

'_Naery why would you do that?!_' the Doctor called to her, seeing tears in her eyes as she looked at him, scared. But she could only shake her head. He frowned, looking from her to the TARDIS to the guns in the service men's hands. She'd been fine in there as he was being tackled and held down but the moment the guns were on him and he'd baited them, almost challenged them to shoot him THAT was when she reacted. It was too instant, to reactive, it was like something more deep rooted and too…raw, too fresh.

"Who the hell_ are_ you?!" Nixon demanded.

"Sir…" Canton began, seeing that the Doctor's gaze didn't even look away from the woman while the President of the United States was speaking to him, "You need to stay back."

"But who…but who are they? What is that box?"

"It's a Police Box, can't you read?" the Doctor finally looked away, "I'm your new undercover agent, on loan from Scotland Yard. Code name, the Doctor. These are my top operatives, the Legs, the Nose, and Mrs. Robinson," he nodded at Amy, Rory, and River.

"I hate you," River muttered.

"No you don't," the Doctor laughed.

"What about ginge over there?" Canton nodded at Mac.

"Um," Mac shook her head, taking a breath, focusing again, now that the guns weren't ALL pointed at the Doctor, even if it meant some were pointed at her, "Special Agent Mackenzie, on loan from UNIT," Mac offered, she knew that UNIT was a newer organization from their point of view, but right now it was the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce and the United Nations had an obligation to tell the leaders of their countries about the organization. They were familiar with it, even if they might not know specifics of it.

"Who are you?!" Nixon demanded again.

"If you've asked that question half a dozen times already and that's all we've answered, clearly you are not going to get a better one," Mac told him tensely, getting a little annoyed now.

"And besides, it's a boring question," the Doctor agreed, "Who's phoning you, that's interesting. Cos Canton Three is right, that was definitely a girl's voice. There's only one place in America she can be phoning from."

"Where?" Canton bit.

"Do not engage with the intruder, Mr. Delaware," one of the black agents called out.

"You heard everything I heard," the Doctor spoke to Canton, "It's simple enough. Give me five minutes, I'll explain," he leaned in, resting his hands on the desk, "On the other hand, lay a finger on me, or my friends, so much as think about harming Kenzie and you'll never, ever know."

"How'd you get it in here?" Canton pointed at the box, "I mean, you didn't carry it."

"Clever, eh?"

"Love it."

"Do not compliment the intruder!" the black guard shouted.

"Five minutes?"

"Five," the Doctor nodded, "No, actually, with Kenzie here helping, make it 4 and a half."

"Mr. President, that man is a clear and present danger…" the black guard tried to speak to Nixon as Canton clearly wasn't listening.

"Mr. President," Canton interrupted, "That man walked in here with a big blue box, three of his friends, and a second agent, and_ that's_ the man he walked past," he nodded at the black guard, "One of them's worth listening to. What say we give him five minutes, see if he delivers."

"Thanks, Canton!" the Doctor grinned.

"If he doesn't, I'll shoot him myself."

"Don't!" Mac yelled, making Canton look at her, her voice cracking as she'd shouted, "Please just…no more talk of shooting anyone, please."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed just a bit at that in thought, knowing there was more to her request of stopping all talk of shooting people than she was letting on.

"Sir, I cannot recommend..." the black guard tried once more.

But Nixon seemed to have had enough, "Shut up, Mr. Peterson!" he snapped, before sighing, "Alright."

"Five minutes," Canton looked at the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled and nodded, "I'm going to need a SWAT team ready to mobilize, street level maps covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, 12 jammie dodgers, a fez, and Agent Mackenzie to join me over here please."

"Get him his maps," Canton called.

"And Agent Mackenzie?" the Doctor glanced at her.

Canton eyed him a moment, before nodding the guards to lower their weapons, allowing Mac to move over to where the Doctor was.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor asked her.

"I'm fine," she answered instantly, too instantly.

He smiled sadly at that, "I know what that means," he murmured, and just pulled her in to a hug.

~8~

Canton watched the Doctor and Mac as they leaned over a map that was set up on Nixon's desk, scouring over them. There were various other maps set up along the room, though only River was looking at one, while Amy and Rory sat on a small sofa, Nixon at his desk, and a few secret service at the doors, "Why Florida?" he asked, moving over to the Time Lords.

"NASA's located in Florida," Mac remarked, "It's the only place in America where you'd see astronauts."

"She mentioned a space man," the Doctor agreed, having told them all what the message said while they were waiting for the maps, "NASA's where the space men live. Also... there's another lead I'm following."

Mac glanced back to see Amy and River whispering, likely about the astronaut they'd seen, before turning back to her maps, trying to find the three names the Doctor had mentioned, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton.

"Amy, what's wrong?" everyone turned back when they heard Rory ask that to see Amy was slightly hunched over, holding her stomach, looking pale and slightly green, as though she were ready to be sick all over the carpet.

"Amy?" River called.

"Amelia?" Mac moved over to her, rubbing her back.

"You alright?" the Doctor glanced over.

"Yeah," Amy tried to wave them off, "No, I'm fine, I'm just...feeling a little sick," she smiled at them and stepped towards the doors, to the guards, "Excuse me, is there a toilet, or something?"

"Sorry, ma'am," Peterson shook his head, "During this procedure, you must remain within the Oval Office."

"Shut up and take her to the rest room," Canton called.

Peterson nodded but gestured another guard to do so, "This way, ma'am," the second man turned to lead her out of the room, Rory trying to follow his wife but Peterson kept him back this time, allowing only Amy out.

"Your five minutes are up," Canton remarked to the Time Lords.

"Yeah," the Doctor scoffed, "And where's my fez?"

"It's my fault Canton," Mac looked at him, "I'm just…"

"Distracting me," the Doctor supplied, instead of letting her give some other excuse that made it her fault.

It really wasn't. HE was the one who kept glancing at her instead of looking for the names he'd instructed them to find. He couldn't help it though, not only was he worried about Mac and whatever it was that had happened, that she'd seen, that had made her so jumpy and scared. But…she was also standing close beside him, closer, he could admit, than she usually did, not that he was complaining. He rather loved feeling the warm of her beside him, being able to see her in his periphery, smell her unique scent as he worked…but it really was all very distracting to him. She was very distracting.

"Didn't take you as the sort to get distracted by a pretty face Doctor," Canton observed.

"I'm not," he turned to stick his tongue out at Canton, "Kenzie's not just a pretty face, she's a gorgeous face…" and then he blinked, realizing what Canton had said, "I'm not sure whether to be offended you think she's just pretty or angry that you're looking at her like that…" his eyes narrowed at Canton.

But the man held up his hands, "She's not my type."

The Doctor eyed him for a moment longer before nodded, satisfied, and turned back to the map.

"That was flirting and not just a remark about me being ginger, wasn't it?" Mac asked him.

He nodded, "You'd be just as stunning no matter your hair color," he told her, leaning over to rest his head to her temple, "You'd be stunning with or without hair, even," he kissed her temple, "You'd be stunning…"

"Ok," Canton walked over, gently taking Mac's arm, "Might be best if you take over the other one's map," he offered, "Can't afford distractions," he gave the Doctor a look, "I'm giving you 5 more minutes and that's it Doctor."

The man sighed and pouted, but turned back to the map as Mac took over at one by Amy's, looking more intently, more focused than before. The sooner he found those names, the sooner Mac would be back at his side and…

They all looked up as the phone rang.

"The kid?" Canton turned to Nixon.

"Should I answer it?" the president wondered.

"Here!" the Doctor cheered, pointing at the map, "The only place in the United States that call could be coming from. See?" he smiled at Mac and River as they both stepped on each side of him, seeing where he'd pointed, "Obvious when you think about it."

Mac let out a little laugh and kissed his cheek, "Brilliant."

They stepped away to allow Canton to take a look, "You, sir," he glanced at the Doctor, "Are a genius."

"It's a hobby," he shrugged.

"Amy?" Mac glanced back to see Amy and the other agent had returned, "You ok now?" Amy nodded, though Mac could see her clutching her mobile.

"Mr. President, answer the phone," Canton ordered.

Nixon took a breath, pressing the recording button of his tapes, before he picked up, "Hello. This is President Nixon."

"It's here!" the child, a little girl, shouted, making Mac and the Doctor's hearts twist painfully to hear the terror in such a little girl's voice, "The spaceman's here. It's gonna get me. It's gonna eat me!"

Mac grabbed the Doctor's tweed jacket that he'd left to the side and ran for the TARDIS, the Doctor after her, "There's no time for a SWAT team," he shouted back to them, "Let's go! Mr. President, tell her help's on the way. Canton, on no account follow us into this box and close the door behind you."

Amy, Rory, and River ran after the two of them, the Time Lords reaching the console just as they heard Canton cry out, "What the hell are you doing?" before the doors shut and they pulled a lever, sending the TARDIS off, with Canton just inside.

"Jefferson's not a name for a little girl," Mac explained to the others quickly as she and the Doctor moved to their designated panels, shifting a bit as River seemed to take a spot at two of them, leaving two for each of them as well, "I doubt it's her name either."

"Jefferson Adams Hamilton... River?" the Doctor looked at her, snapping his fingers.

"Surnames of three of America's founding fathers," River said instantly.

"Well done," Mac smiled at her.

"And we are NEVER going to that era again," the Doctor pointed at Mac warningly.

"It wasn't my fault," she held up her hands in surrender, smiling, which made the Doctor grin internally, that was a point for him, getting her to smile.

"What happened?" Amy eyed them.

"Adams fancied me," Mac told them, "The Doctor was in a rather sour mood the rest of the time because of that even though Jefferson AND Hamilton fancied HIM."

"Ok, but what does that have to do with the names?" Amy shook her head.

"The President asked the child two questions," the Doctor explained, "Where and who are you? She was answering where. Now where would you find three big historical names in a row like that?"

"Where?"

"Here!" he pulled a lever, setting them down, and turned to grab Mac's hand, "Come on!" he pulled her towards the doors, Amy and River following as Rory and Canton were standing just before them, but Canton moved in the way.

"It's er..." Canton just blinked, not sure what to say.

"Rory could you help him cope?" Mac asked the boy, patting him on the arm as they passed, her, the Doctor, and River stepping out and into a disused warehouse, a large room that was dark and dirty and cluttered. They slowly wandered out, Mac pulling out her small penlight to help.

The Doctor smiled as he picked up a small American flag just as Amy stepped out of the TARDIS, "Where are we?"

"Five miles north of Cape Kennedy," Mac called, having run an environment scan for their location, "1969."

"The year of the Moon," the Doctor grinned, turning to her, "Interesting, don't you think?"

"Why would a girl be here?" Amy looked around as River tried to scan the area on her small hand held scanner.

"I don't know. Lost, maybe?" he looked over at Mac as she went to check the phone, resting her hand on it to see if it was still warm from being held, but it was cold, before lifting it to her ear and frowning, so he made his way over to her, "The President asked where she was and she did what any lost little girl would do," he pulled the blinds down on the window beside her, showing all of them the street signs, "She looked out the window."

Jefferson, Adams, and Hamilton roads all meeting right there.

"She's a clever girl," Mac mused, "Street names."

"The only place in Florida, probably all of America, with those three street names on the same junction, and look at that Kenzie," he turned to lean on the window, crossing his arms as he smiled at her, "You've got that face on again."

"What face?" she shook her head.

"The 'he looks so hot when he's being clever' face."

Mac laughed, making him beam, another point for the Doctor! And looked at him, "I think it was YOU who thinks he's so hot when he's trying to be clever."

"Trying and succeeding," he corrected, "And it was YOU that gave the little Freudian slip with 'hot.'"

"I believe I said 'funny.'"

"And funny's good, because you like funny," he stepped closer to her.

"I like YOU."

"And I LOVE you," he winked at her, gently touching her face, "And just you wait, I'll get you to fall in love with me yet."

Mac blinked, thinking of how he'd kissed her, how the future him had kissed her when he first saw her, "You just might manage it within the next 2 centuries then," she mused.

"Ooh...I'm aiming for only 1," he murmured, his thumb lightly stroking her cheek, leaning in to kiss her…

"We've moved!" Canton's voice suddenly shouted, making them jump and pull away, startled, River doing her best to hide her smirk of amusement at how they hadn't even noticed the man stepping out of the TARDIS, "How…how can we have moved?!"

The Doctor sighed, but winked at Mac once more before he stepped away from her, "You haven't even got to space travel yet?" he asked Rory.

"I was going to cover it with time travel," Rory rolled his eyes, shutting the TARDIS door behind him.

"Time travel?!" Canton gaped.

"Brave heart, Canton," the Doctor patted him on the shoulder, before turning to head off, "Come on!"

River stepped up to Mac as she moved to follow the Doctor, "Mackenzie?" she asked her gently, rubbing her arm, "Are you ok?"

Mac swallowed, "I will be," she nodded, looking at River and patting her hand on her arm, "I'll make sure of it."

River smiled, "I don't doubt it," she told the woman before the two of them started to head off towards where the Doctor and Amy had disappeared through a door and into a larger warehouse room, "It's a warehouse of some kind," River confirmed as her scanner beeped, "Disused."

"That's never a good sign," Mac sighed, "This is probably a trap. The phoneline was cut," she informed the Doctor and the others, "The child couldn't have phoned the President from here on that phone."

Amy blinked and laughed, "I love how that wrong part of that statement is that she couldn't call from that phone instead of she couldn't call the president."

"What I want to know is why someone would want to trap us?" River remarked, glancing at the Doctor, "Which enemy did you annoy this time Doctor?"

"Don't know," "he shrugged, "Might not even be an enemy. Let's see if anyone tries to kill us, and work backwards."

"Let's not and say we did," Mac countered, "I'd rather not anyone try to kill us just this once."

The Doctor looked at her, hearing a strain in her words and reached out to take her hand, tugging her to him and draping his arm around her shoulders for comfort, "Come, we need to find that little girl."

"Look over there," River squinted, seeing what looked like an operating table of some sort and made her way over, seeing wires with what looked like slime on it lying about, "It's non-terrestrial," she nodded, bale to see that without even needing to scan, "Definitely alien, probably not even from this time zone."

"Which is odd," the Doctor called and Mac realized he'd disappeared from her side and was now standing beside a large crate filled with packing materials and other items, "Because look at this!" he pushed away some of the packing materials to show them that there was what looked like an astronaut suit in there, making Mac freeze to see.

River glanced at Mac a moment before stepping over to the Doctor and looking at the suit, "It's Earth tech, contemporary."

"Very contemporary. Cutting edge!" he pulled out a helmet and looked at it, Mac slowly coming to join him with Amy, "This is from the space program!"

"Stolen?" Amy frowned, "What, by aliens?"

"Apparently," he grinned, putting the helmet on his head.

"Why? If you can make it to Earth, why steal technology that can barely make it to the moon?"

"Maybe cos it's cooler," his voice came out muffled so he lifted the visor, "Look how cool this stuff is!"

"It's really not," Mac murmured, moving closer to him and taking the helmet off him, "Don't…" she whispered, "Don't do that," before she placed the helmet back in the box and turned to walk away from it.

The Doctor opened his mouth to call after her, sensing something wrong, when Rory and Canton joined them, "I, er, I think he's ok now," Rory told them.

"Ah, back with us, Canton?" the Doctor forced himself to turn back to Canton a moment.

"Like your wheels," Canton remarked, looking around with his light.

"That's my boy!" he patted Canton on the shoulder before making his way over to Mac, the woman just looking around at the room with her small light, "Kenzie?" he called gently, reaching out to take her hand, "Come on," he kissed the back of her hand, "We have a little girl to find and rescue eh?"

"Yeah," she nodded, really trying to get a hand on her emotions. She had to STOP doing this, she had to focus. The Doctor was fine for now, what happened to him wouldn't before another 200 years just about, and she'd already resolved to spend every second she could thinking about how to save him, so really…the little girl needed to be her main priority. It was just hard, because things kept popping up when she wasn't expecting them that reminded her of the lake and what would happen.

"Doctor!" River called, "Mackenzie?" they looked over to see her standing by a manhole cover that appeared to have wires that ran from it to the operating table, "Look at this," she started to push the cover aside.

"Where does that go?" the Doctor tried to peer down into it.

River held up her scanner, "There's a network of tunnels running under here."

"Any life signs?" Mac frowned.

"No, nothing that's showing up."

"Those are the worst kind," the Doctor mumbled, "Be careful!" he added as River started to head down in there.

"Careful?" she scoffed, "Tried that once, ever so dull."

"Shout if you get in trouble."

""Don't worry, I'm quite the screamer. Now there's a spoiler for you!"

"No screaming," Mac shook her head, "Let me know when you're down and I'll come with you River," she offered. She really didn't want to leave the Doctor but she really needed a chance to talk to River privately.

River nodded and continued to go down, "You're going down there?" the Doctor asked her.

Mac nodded, "We shouldn't let anyone alone right now," she reasoned, "If that spaceman or whatever is after the little girl is out there, we should be in pairs at the least."

The Doctor sighed but had to agree, "Just…YOU be careful at least."

She smiled, "Only if YOU are too."

He nodded and crossed his hearts, "I promise. For you, I promise."

"I'm down!" River called and Mac took a breath, starting to head down into the tunnels after her.

"River?" Mac looked around when she got down only to see River wasn't there. She'd just taken a step when River came running back into the room, "River!" she ran over to the woman, River looked frantic, nearly frightened, was panting…only for her to calm almost instantly, "You ok?"

River blinked and looked at her, "Yeah, yeah, fine, um…" she shook her head, "Sorry, all clear back there. Want to take a peek?"

Mac nodded but eyed River oddly, "You SURE you're ok?" she asked, seeing River hug her stomach.

"Just a bit sick," she waved it off, taking a breath, "It's the prison food probably. This way," she turned to lead her on, down the empty tunnels, "So, what do you think of all this?"

Mac let out a breath, "It kills me not to tell him what's going to happen," she admitted, knowing that River was talking about the Doctor and not the tunnels, "Amy and Rory have it easier, humans need sleep and Time Lords need less. I can't exactly avoid the Doctor, I couldn't bring myself to go back to UNIT and know that he's out there and getting closer to the lake. I just…" she shook her head, "I have 200 years to try and find a way to help him without utterly shattering the timelines."

"I don't doubt you'll do it," River murmured, swallowing hard, "You have to…I'm not ready to not see a Doctor who's 1104."

Mac smiled at that, glancing at River, if she knew anything about what was happening, she was hiding it well but it just hit her that…the Rivers she'd seen in the future could have been a river that was just travelling or running into the Doctor for the next 200 years and not after that. She could only hope that they'd run into a future River and she could at least ask the Doctor's age that she knew him at.

Mac looked around at the tunnels, needing something to take her mind off of it all, "How old are these tunnels?" she asked, "They almost look centuries old but someone would have had to notice. The warehouse was only decades old at most…"

"Look there," River pointed her own torch at a large door in the wall, a maintenance hatch, and made her way over, "It's locked…" she knelt down to examine the lock, "Why do people always lock things?"

"I assume to try and keep people out," Mac remarked, "Need any help?" she crouched down, some paperclips and screwdrivers and pins in her hand.

River smiled, "I've got it," she opened her hand to show her the same things in her own hand, offering Mac a wink at it, "Learned from the best," she told her, turning to pick the lock, "Never could resist a locked door."

"Neither could I," Mac mused, watching River work quickly and efficiently, truly having some experience with things like this, "What about you River?" she asked, "What do YOU think of all this?"

"I'm not afraid of seeing the Doctor die, or you die," she admitted, "All the adventures I've had with you, that you'll have with me…" she shook her head, "I always go in, knowing that there's a chance one of us will die even though it never seems to happen no matter how close it gets," she looked at Mac, "You two always protect me, take care of me, make sure I'm ok. Thank you for that," she swallowed hard.

Mac reached out and put a hand on River's knee, "What's wrong?"

"You don't know who I am," she said, it wasn't a question, "And you still protect me. You always do. But…it kills me that you don't' know and it hurts that I can't tell you, and that I have to see you looking at me with even the slightest distrust at time," she looked down, "My past is your future, yours and the Doctors. We're travelling in opposite directions. Every time we meet, I know you both more, you know me less. The best days of my life are when I get to see you both again…but every time that happens, I feel like you'll both be one step further away from me. And every danger we face…that doesn't mean anything to me, it comes with the territory, with the job," she took a breath, trying not to cry, "What truly scares me is that I know, there'll be a day, maybe one day soon, when I'll look into yours and the Doctor's eyes…and you won't have the faintest idea who I am, you'll have no idea, you won't have met me at all. You'll look at me and there won't be a single spark of any sort of recognition, you'll look through me…and I think it's going to kill me."

They looked over at the door as the lock clicked and the door opened. River merely stood, not allowing Mac a word to try and comfort her as she stepped into the room, Mac standing to follow her. The room within was FAR too familiar to Mac…it was the same exact room as the ship from Craig's flat.

River stepped closer to one of the control panels with the orb set in it and an alarm went off.

Mack reached out and pulled her back, "I've been here before," she whispered to River, "I'll handle the controls, you keep watch."

River nodded and moved to the door, looking out as Mac moved back to the panel, starting to tap in commands, relieved that it wasn't trying to make her fly it again.

"There's nothing out there!" River called.

Mac nodded, not looking back and started to look at the readings racing through the orb, "The tunnels go everywhere, across the entire planet," she frowned, "But how could no one have noticed? They HAVE been here for centuries already…"

She stiffened though, turning when she heard a crackle of electricity and spun around to see River standing there with what looked like an alien with a large head with only eyes and no mouth, the skin smoothed over, large fingers and a thin body in a black suit behind her, their hands raised, electricity building around them.

"RIVER!" she screamed, running to her and pulling her down, keeping her eyes on the aliens as the blast of electricity flew over them, "Come on!" she grabbed her hand and ran out of the room, pushing past the aliens that had tried to enter the room, pushing past them, trying to move as quickly as possible through them. They just reached the small cavern they'd entered through, empty now, and blinked, looking at each other in confusion as to why they were back there, why they were out of breath…

When a gunshot rang out above them along with Amy's scream…

A/N: Is it possible to kill a computer program thing? :( I had a note on my tumblr, but what happened was I woke up this morning to post this and Merlin...my ENTIRE Doc Manager was empty and I had about 49 Docs in there :'( All my editing for Merlin and DW was just gone and, of course, I have the unedited versions so I have to reupload them. But I start on Merlin and editing it again, I go to save...completely blank Doc. It didn't just not save all my work, it erased it too :'( I had to do it again and then do DW and made sure to copy the entire chapter before saving...and of course, because I copied it to be safe, it worked fine :( Why does FF hate me? :'( I'm going to make sure that I save everything and copy everything before saving to avoid that happening again :(

As for this chapter though, I hope you enjoyed it :) I haven't done one where the TL was in the past with the Ponds yet ;)

Some notes on reviews...

We'll have to wait and see how the Almost People will turn out, but I do think the Doctor would love it if there was another Mac there...but possibly if there was only one him to not have to share the other her with lol :)

I have a schedule up on my tumblr's 'Upcoming Stories' page that has the list of all stories for 2014 and the dates they'll be posted :) So far, if all goes to plan, BBT will be posted on August 11th :)

I can't say if Mac will be the clone or not, we'll have to wait and see :)

I have a section on my profile about the transcripts :) Originally I had all the links to the sites I used, but it slowed my page down to put them all there, so I've put them as posts on my tumblr. If you go to my profile, and click on my tumblr link, and go to the 'Transcripts' page, all the transcripts I've written myself are posted there along with a master post of the links to all the transcript sites I used :) There's 2 video things I can think of that you might be talking about, the first are videos that are video suggestions others have made to watch (on my tumblr, 'Youtube Suggestion') or videos I have made myself for my Time Ladies (on my profile, my Youtube channel link) :)

I haven't seen any of the Spiderman movies except the TM ones and the third one sort of just was blah to me, I haven't seen the newer ones yet though so there's a chance for the future :)


	3. Day of the Moon

Day of the Moon

Three months later would find the Doctor sitting in a cell, a large cell, more like a room made entirely of black bricks, which it was. But the bricks in question weren't true bricks, not normal bricks, but an alien alloy that completely sealed itself of any cracks. It was the thickest, densest material in the universe, something beyond the scope of human knowledge and something he knew he was likely to get hell from for Mac when he finally saw her again for convincing her to provide said bricks to Canton.

Three months he'd been sitting in Area 51, tied to a chair, Amy, Rory, and River scouring the world for traces of an alien he could only vaguely remember having seen. To be honest, he was starting to forget what had happened in the warehouse they'd looked for the little girl in. He remembered Mac and River going into the tunnels, Rory and Amy and Canton staying with him…till they heard the girl crying out for help. Canton had run off, gotten beaned in the head for it, and they'd seen the girl, a little girl trapped in an astronaut suit, reaching out for help.

Amy, his hearts pinged painfully to recall, had shot at the girl with Canton's gun, or shot at the suit as she'd seemed completely horrified when she realized it was a little girl instead. But then they'd seen the creatures, these…alien things. All he remembered were big heads and black suits. He honestly couldn't remember how he even worked out they were there as it seemed like one could only remember them when looking at them, the moment that you turned your back it was like you'd not seen them at all.

He missed Mac though, he knew that Canton would have to go back to Area 51, he knew that the aliens would be watching and that they had to make sure that the aliens thought Canton didn't know about them. The man would need to bring in an 'alien' for cover, question the Doctor about what was going on. Well, question him or Mac and he was NOT about to let them go after Mac. So he'd kissed her before he'd stepped out of the TARDIS and let Canton arrest him, shutting the doors before she could come out after him, knowing the TARDIS would take off as he'd programmed the box to do. It was up to Mac to keep the others safe, to watch out for them, to gather data from them, and, given that Canton hadn't mentioned Amy, Rory, or River other than the fact that they'd 'escaped' him, he hoped it meant Mac was doing alright.

"Is there a reason you're doing this?" he looked at the man, playing his part, though he couldn't help but twitch, he'd grown a bit of a beard the last three months and he was starting to get irritated with it.

"I want you to know where you stand," Canton told him.

The Doctor looked around at the black room, there was only a single jigsawed hole cut behind Canton as the opening, "In a cell."

"In the perfect cell," Canton corrected, "Nothing can penetrate these walls. Not a sound, not a radio wave," he turned and stuck his fingers into small holes in the wall and the jigsawed piece closed in, the cracks starting to seal, "Not the tiniest particle of anything. In here, you are literally cut off from the rest of the universe," he waited till all the cracks were gone, "So I guess they can't hear us, right?"

"Good work, Canton," the Doctor grinned, "Door sealed?"

"You bet."

The Doctor started to laugh, "Any day now Kenzie!" he called out…and moments later the sound of the TARDIS wheezing filled the small box as the TARDIS itself materialized around both him and Canton.

"Doctor!" Mac cheered, rushing over to him from the console where Amy, Rory, and River (who was drying her rather damp hair on a towel) were standing. She reached out to help him shake off the chains and unstrap his straightjacket…the humans truly had gone all out to restrain him hadn't they?

The Doctor turned around and hugged her tightly, "You ok?" he whispered to her.

She nodded, "Are YOU?"

"Hmm…" he hummed, before leaning in to kiss her, pulling away with a smile, "Better now," he winked at her.

"Canton," she smiled at the man, "Well done, expert performance," the man just shrugged.

"Amy, Rory, River," he greeted, "Sorry about the threatening you."

Rory waved him off, "We weren't in any real danger," he remarked.

Canton had cornered all of them, Amy in the desert, River in a skyscraper, and him on top of a dam, had pulled his gun on both him and Amy and forced River to jump out of a window. But Mac had been there exactly when they needed and materialized the TARDIS around them before disappearing with them. She'd taken pictures of all the tick marks decorating their skin, markings of proof that they'd seen the aliens they couldn't remember. It was alarming to look at your arm and see scores of marks and not know if you were just repetitively marking it for the same alien or if there really were THAT many surrounding you and you couldn't remember it.

"Isn't it going to look odd that you're staying in that box with the Doctor though?" Amy frowned as they turned and made their way back to the console.

"Odd, but not alarming. They know there's no way out of there," he joked, looking around, clearly they were already out.

"Exactly," the Doctor grinned as Mac headed over to a lever, "Whatever they might think we're doing in here, they know we're not going anywhere."

Mac laughed and pulled the lever she'd gone to, sending them off into the Vortex as the Doctor began to put in coordinates, "Ok," she nodded, "Debriefing," she looked at the Doctor and Canton, knowing they were the most out of the look, "They're everywhere," she warned them, "All over the planet, and they've been here for centuries, possibly longer. We can't say how long because no one that would have noticed them would be able to remember them."

"So what are they up to?" Canton frowned.

"No idea," the Doctor draped his arm around Mac's shoulders, "But the good news is all that time to think, gave me an idea for a secret weapon," he turned a knob and pulled a lever before taking Mac's hand and pulling her to the doors, rushing out of them with the others to see they were at the base of the Apollo 11 rocket.

"Apollo 11's your secret weapon?" River blinked.

"No, no, it's not Apollo 11, that would be silly. It's Neil Armstrong's foot."

Mac just stared at him, "There are times I fear for your sanity Doctor."

He just laughed and kissed her again, not having been around her for three months…he really didn't fancy leaving her alone for that long ever again.

~8~

"Do you have to?" Mac frowned as the Doctor held her hand, a small injector gun in his grip.

"I'm sorry," he nodded, a frown on his face. He kissed her palm quickly before injecting something into her hand, making her hiss in pain before he kissed her palm twice to make up for it, "Canton," he turned to the man, "You're next. Not the…the kissing thing but the other stuff," he held up the injector and grabbed Canton's hand, injecting him as well, getting a cry of 'ow!' from the man, "Three months," he looked at the small group, "What have we found out?"

"Like Mac said, they're everywhere. Every state in America…ow!" he winced as the Doctor injected his hand as well.

"The entire world Rory," Mac shook her head, biting her bottom lip at that.

"There's a greater concentration here though," River remarked as the Doctor moved on to Amy, glancing over to see the Doctor speaking to her quietly about something.

"So you've seen them, but you don't remember them," Canton tried to keep up.

"You've seen them too. That night at the warehouse, remember? While you were pretending to hunt us down we saw hundreds of those things. We only know what they look like because Mackenzie was keeping a description of them when we'd contact her with them in sight and told her."

"Large, bulbous head," she began, "Small eyes, no nose, skin over their mouths, no ears. Very thin, black suit and tie, large and long fingers."

"We can't remember that, can't remember even telling her about it," Rory sighed, "It's like they edit themselves out of your memory as soon as you look away. The exact second you're not looking at them, you can't remember anything."

"It seems like you can feel a little sick after you see them though," Mac remarked, "Rory, River, and Amy were a bit ill when I got them back," she looked at the Doctor, "Ran scans on them and everything to make sure they were all ok. A bit of neural bruising from all the memory loss and remembering though, nothing too bad. But…" she shook her head, "If that's visible enough on a scan just from 3 months, I don't want to think about what they'd be like in 3 years if they were constantly around the aliens."

"Repeated memory wipes would probably fry the brain," the Doctor agreed.

"So that's why you marked your skin," Canton realized.

Amy nodded, "Only way we'd know if we'd had an encounter."

"How long have they been here?"

"That's what we've spent three months trying to find out."

"Not easy, if you can't remember anything you discover," Rory added.

"Even worse when you have to repeatedly tell your agents that you already know something because they told it to you before," Mac sighed, recalling how many times she'd had to say that yes, she knew they had a giant head and yes she knew they were in a black suit.

"Well how long do you think?" Canton asked.

"As long as there's been something in the corner of your eye," the Doctor began, "Or creaking in your house, or breathing under your bed, or voices through a wall. They've been running your lives for a very long time now, so keep this straight in your head. We are not fighting an alien invasion, we're leading a revolution. And today the battle begins."

"How?" Canton breathed.

"Like this," the Doctor grinned and injected River's hand without even looking, just leaning back to do it.

"OW!" River huffed, glaring at him.

"Always with the dramatics Doctor," Mac shook her head with a small smiled.

"You love my dramatics," he winked at her.

Mac just stepped forward and took the injector from him, injecting his hand as well, getting a little 'ow!' from him too, before she turned to the others and explained what was going on, "These are nano recorders," she held up a small red capsule, "They fuse into the cartilage of your hand and create a connection to the speech centers in your brain."

"Yes, these nifty little gadgets will pick up your voice, no matter what," the Doctor agreed, "Telepathic connection. So the moment you see one of the creatures, you activate it," he gestured at Mac as she held up her hand and touched the center of it with a finger from her other hand, making her palm glow, "And describe aloud exactly what you're seeing."

Mac pushed her hand again, and the glow started to pulse like an answerphone trying to signal its owner, "If you want to hear what you've said," she pressed the hand again and it started to play, 'And describe aloud exactly what you're seeing,' from the Doctor over her hand, "After you've heard the message, it'll erase," she warned them, "Giving you freedom to leave another one."

"Remember, the moment you break contact, you're going to forget it happened," the Doctor pointed at them, "The light will flash if you've left yourself a message. You keep checking your hand. If you've had an encounter that's the first you'll know about it."

"Why didn't you tell me this before we started?" Canton frowned.

"I did. But even information about these creatures erases itself over time."

"It took a lot of experimenting," Mac agreed, moving to the console and hitting a few commands, "But you can preserve the information if you refresh it enough…" she looked at Canton to see him glance over his shoulder and then back to the Doctor, all of them watching intently as he straightened the Doctor's bowtie.

"What?" he blinked, "What are you staring at?"

River nodded down, "Look at your hand."

Canton gave her a confused look but glanced at his hand to see it was flashing, as though he'd left himself a message, "Why's it doing that?"

"What did we just tell you the flashing means?" Mac countered.

"But I haven't..."

"You wouldn't remember if you had."

"Play it," the Doctor urged.

Canton hesitated a moment before pressing his palm, hearing his own voice calling out, "My God, how did it get in here?"

And then Mac's voice played over it as well, "Keep looking at it and, when you turn round, straighten the Doctor's bowtie."

Canton slowly turned, hearing himself speaking again, "What? What are you staring at?"

Followed by River, "Look at your hand."

Before the recording cut and there, standing before the doors, was one of the aliens Mac had just described.

"It's a hologram I had Kenzie extrapolate from a photo on Amy's phone," the Doctor explained as they all stared at it until it flickered off, "You straightened my bowtie because Kenzie planted the idea in your head while you were looking at the creature."

"It took a lot of experimenting," Mac sighed, "Sorry, she glanced at the others, I didn't make you do anything large," she added, "I found out about that on accident when I told Rory to um, run for the hills, while he was looking at one. He ran out of the room and stopped, couldn't see them…and then started to run. Luckily there were hills nearby, didn't stop till he got there."

"They can really do that to people?" Amy frowned at that, "They could make us do stuff and not really knowing why we're doing it."

"Like post hypnotic suggestion," Rory nodded.

"Ruling the world with post hypnotic suggestion."

"Now then," the Doctor headed over to the console, "A little girl in a spacesuit. They got the suit from NASA, but where did they get the girl?"

"Where else do you find a child that no one's kicking up much of a fuss about?" Mac looked sadly at them, "Children's homes."

~8~

Canton pulled a black sedan up to the doors of Graystark Hall Orphanage, Mac beside him, Amy in the back seat as they looked at each other, the rain pouring down on top of the car, "Ready," Canton looked at them, "Check?"

Amy looked at her hand, "Clear."

"Clear," he glanced at Mac, "Agent Mackenzie?"

She sighed, "Clear," she mumble before biting her lip…she was very on edge about this. She'd worked out that the thing Amy had seen at the lake that she hadn't remembered and brushed Rory off about had to be one of the aliens. It bothered her to know they'd been standing there, watching him die, which meant they had to be an enemy of some sort. She hadn't wanted to leave the Doctor, for once choosing him over the companion, but Rory had requested she go with Amy and Canton when Amy insisted on going with the man to the Children's homes as the Doctor wanted to go to NASA. Amy wanted to apologize to the child if/when they found her and had volunteered to help Canton. Rory knew he'd never be able to pull off an 'agent on a mission' as well as Mac could and no one would buy it from him so he'd asked her to go in his place. She couldn't really refuse a man asking her to protect his wife, the woman he loved, so she'd asked him to try and keep the Doctor out of trouble, TRY to at least.

She took a breath, looking at the others to see them waiting on her, Canton seemed to have put her in charge, an alien for an alien, the Doctor leading Rory and River while she led Amy and Canton, "Move out," she ordered and they got out of the car, running for the doors to avoid the rain.

Canton beat on the door fiercely till it opened to reveal a slightly older man, thin, shadows under his eyes, "Hello?"

Mac held up her spare Psychic paper for her and Amy while Canton held up his own, "FBI," she introduced, "Dr. Renfrew I presume?"

"Yes?" the man eyed them.

"Can we come in?" Canton asked after a moment, all three of them sensing something off about the man for letting them stand there an inch away from the pouring rain.

"The children are asleep…"

"We'll be very quiet," Amy promised.

"Is there a problem?"

"We received a report about a missing child," Mac offered, "We're just checking round the orphanages as it wasn't a parent who made the report."

Renfrew nodded, "Yes, yes, come in, please," he stepped back and allowed them into the orphanage, shutting the door behind him.

They looked around, tensing at the sight of it. It would have been a lovely place to live…had it not been so dilapidated and run down, with paint chipping on the walls, and damp and mold on the corners of the ceiling, and the floorboards uneven and creaking. But what alarmed them the most was that in rather large words on the wall were painted 'GET OUT' and 'LEAVE NOW' as clear a sign as any…

So, of course, they stayed put.

"This way," Renfrew called, turning to lead them up the stairs, past the letters, "Please excuse the writing. It keeps happening. I try to clean it up."

"It's the kids, yeah?" Amy asked, sounding more hopeful than she probably should, "They do that?"

Renfrew, however, hesitated before answering, "Yes. The children. It must be, yes," he reached out to try and wipe the writing off the walls, exposing his wrist where 'GET OUT!' was written even there, "Anyway, my office is this way…"he turned suddenly, as though forgetting his intention to clean the wall.

"We nearly didn't come to this place," Canton remarked as they continued up, "I understood Graystark Hall was closed in '67."

"That's the plan, yes."

"The plan?" Mac frowned at the tensing the man was using.

"Not long now."

"It's 1969," Canton told him.

"No, no. We close in '67. That's the plan, yes."

"You misunderstood me, sir. It's 1969 _now_."

The man blinked at them, "Why are you saying that? Of course, it isn't."

"July."

Renfrew stared a moment, before he turned once more, just as suddenly as before, "My office is this way, this way…"

"They've gotten to him," Mac confirmed to them silently.

"I'll check upstairs," Amy offered.

"I'll go below," Mac agreed, "Meet in the middle."

"Be careful," Canton nodded at them as they turned and headed off their separate ways, Canton after Renfrew onto the second floor, Mac going back down to the first while Amy headed up to the third.

~8~

Mac quickly made her way up the stairs and towards the third floor when she'd reached the second and didn't see a sign of Amy. The first floor hadn't had many rooms, due to the large parlor and meeting rooms and dining room and kitchen, so there wasn't much to see besides more letters and paintings. 'Leave me alone!' and 'Run!' and 'Don't look back!' seemed to be the favored messages. She, thankfully, hadn't had her hand flash on her so she was sure that the first floor was safe enough at least.

She'd made it to the top floor to see Amy trying to get a door open, "Amy?"

Amy gasped and spun to face her, resting a hand on her heart, "Mac you scared me!" she huffed.

"Sorry, need some help?" she nodded at the door as she headed over.

"Yeah," Amy stepped to the side, "Every other room on this floor was open and unlocked but this one," she told her, "And…I think I heard someone inside it," she added.

Mac nodded and got to work, crouching down and picking the lock, shifting uncomfortably, "Last time I wear a pencil skirt," she muttered. She was back in her old attire, a white blouse, a black pencil skirt, more for the affect of being an actual agent than her normal attire would provide. She didn't understand how her last self had done it, they were ridiculously uncomfortable!

"Last time I wear a suit," Amy agreed, tugging on her blazer, "Too constraining."

Mac smiled at that, how much they both agreed they hated their outfits, before she let out a soft cheer, "There we are," she stood, the door opening easily. The two women stepped in to see that they were in what appeared to be a small bedroom, not quite a nursery, but a child's bedroom.

"This isn't right," Amy shook her head, "All the other rooms were…"

"Decrepit?" Mac supplied, "And yet this one is perfectly tended."

And it was, it was a warm room with toys and a mobile hanging from the light. There were dressers and cupboards, a small comfy bed with warm blankets. And pictures, a small mess of pictures on a bureau, all framed. Amy moved over to the pictures as Mac glanced at them, spotting that they appeared to be a little girl at varying ages. Mac turned away to go check the cupboards when a photo in the back caught Amy's eyes. She frowned, leaning in to see it was a picture of the girl, as a baby, a woman holding her, her ginger hair falling over the baby's arm and her eyes widened realizing it was her, holding a baby! She turned, about to tell Mac what she'd found, when she gasped, the astronaut entering the room, "Mac!"

Mac looked over and quickly moved back to Amy's side, standing more in front of her than to the side though, "Who are you?" she asked, "Are you the little girl or someone else?"

The astronaut slowly lifted its visor to reveal it was, in fact, the little girl, the front of her helmet cracked from the bullet.

"I'm sorry," Amy breathed, "I didn't mean to shoot you. I'm glad I missed. But you killed the Doctor. You're going to kill him."

"Who are you?" Mac looked at the girl.

The girl just sniffled, reaching out to them, "Please help me. Help me, please!"

Mac stiffened, moving even more in front of Amy when two of the aliens stepped in on either side of the little girl.

"CANTON!" Mac shouted.

~8~

"Help us!" Canton heard Amy cry just after he'd heard Mac scream, and bolted up the stairs towards the third floor, having sent out a call to the Doctor for help on the way, "Canton, please!"

"Canton!" Mac called as well as he reached the only closed door in the hall, the one the voices were coming out of, "Help u…"

"Mackenzie!?" he shouted, hearing her suddenly go quiet.

"Help us!" Amy kept going, "Please, I can't, I can't see! Somebody help!"

Canton tried to shove the door down, but it was like it was made of steel, "Amy!" he pounded on the door, "Mackenzie! Can you hear me?" but they were silent, "I'm going to try to blow the lock. I need you to stand back," he waited only a moment before backing up, raising his gun to do it…when Rory, River, and the Doctor ran up.

"Ok, gun down, I've got it!" the Doctor ran to the door, sonicing it, "Kenzie I'm here! Are you ok?" he shoved the door open…only to see that neither Amy nor Mac were in there, "No…" he breathed, spinning around the room before rushing to the cupboard to check if one of them might have managed to hide, River moving to the spacesuit lying on the ground, empty, and Canton pulling his gun incase any of the aliens were there.

"Where are they, Doctor?" Rory shook his head.

"Doctor!" River called, "The suit's empty."

The Doctor turned and soniced it, trying to get a reading, trying to see if there might be a recording or a video of some sort of feed that could tell them what happened as it clearly wasn't just human tech that had gone into it.

"It's dark," Amy's voice began to speak, "It's so dark. Mac? Mac are you here? I can't see…Mac?! I don't know where I am," she started to cry, "Please, can anybody hear me?"

They looked down to see that there was a single small red nano-recorder blinking on the floor.

"They took this out of her?" Rory blinked, picking it up, "How did they do that, Doctor?"

"No," the Doctor swallowed, "Kenzie did," he soniced it, "It defaults to live, wherever she is right now, this is what she's saying. It's Kenzie letting us know that Amy is still alive…"

"But what about Mac?" River gasped.

"Amy?" they could hear Mac call, her voice groggy and weak, distant almost, which made sense as Amy's voice would be the closest. The nano-recorder, when defaulting to that setting, would connect with those closest to it in an emergency. It was picking up on Mac, but barely.

"Mac!" Amy gasped.

"Amy don't cry…I'm here…"

"But where are we?"

"I dunno…"

The Doctor closed his eyes, if it was as dark as Amy claimed it was, so dark that she couldn't see Mac…then Mac wouldn't be able to give them any useful information about what was around them to warn him of any dangers.

"Amy, can you hear me?" Rory tried to speak into the recorder, "We're coming for you. Wherever you are, we're coming, I swear."

"She can't hear you Rory," the Doctor said softly, "Neither of them can, it's one way."

"She can always hear me, Doctor. Always, wherever she is. She always knows that I am coming for her…" he looked at the Doctor, "Just like Mac knows you won't stop till you get her back too, doesn't she?"

"Don't worry Amy," they could hear Mac speak, "The Doctor will find us. I know he will. He'll come…"

The Doctor smiled at that, "Yes she does," he answered Rory.

And he'd prove it too.

"Hello," Renfrew called as the Doctor opened his mouth to give another plan, "Is someone in there? Who…" the man trailed off as he appeared in the doorway, "I think someone has been shot. I think we should help. We... I can't... I can't remember."

The Doctor's expression hardened at that, realizing that the man must have just come from seeing one of the aliens and bolted out the door, River immediately after him, with Rory and Canton following. He thundered down the stairs, hearing a rasping noise from an office and ran in to see one of the creatures on the ground, shying away from him, its hand on its stomach as it had a wound there, "Who and what are you?" he demanded, crouching before it.

The creature tilted its head at him, "Silence, Doctor. We are the Silence," before chuckling in his mind, "And silence will fall."

"No," he shook his head, "It won't. And do you know why?" his eyes narrowed, "There is nothing in this universe that can shut this gob up except one person…and you took her away from me. So be prepared for an earache boys, I will NEVER be silenced."

~8~

The Doctor was a wreck. He knew he was as he ran around the console, tracking the signal from Amy's nano-recorder to Mac's. It was one way to find it, he realized it was another reason why she'd torn it out of Amy. Once out it grasped onto the nearest one as well, it created a signal he could trace back to right where Amy and Mac were and he knew they were still together.

Rory had been listening to them the entire time, cradling Amy's recorder in his hand. He'd managed to be sound of mind enough to get Canton and the Silent back to the box in Area 51, get it tended to, leave the man to question it as he knew neither he, nor Rory, nor even herself were calm enough to deal with the alien that had helped Amy and Mac be captured. After that it had been back to the warehouse, examining the suit, needing to know about it, know why the Silence needed it, maybe if it was important enough he could trade it for Amy and Mac. According to River and her scans, it was only a basic life support unit…but with 20 different alien tech adaptations to it. It was a mega suit, a mega life support, not even needing food to keep the person within alive as it could feed off sunlight if it had to. Built in weaponry, om. comm. that went right to the highest authority, the President.

He'd learned a little about the envelope he'd gotten as well. He'd nicked Mac's off the TARDIS after she'd changed, found it in her cardigan. The date and time and map reference were wrong, were different than his. Whatever it was that she'd seen, it had been a few hours before his card had told him to be there in the diner where hers had said to be in the desert. It was simple, earth stationary, the TARDIS blue color he wasn't sure if it was coincidence or meant to happen. He shouldn't have really even bothered with the card, not when he could hear Amy still freaking out over the recorder, Mac trying her best to keep her calm. But he knew what it was…the card was Mac's, it was the closest thing he could hold of hers and keep with him short of carrying around her cardigan and he'd tried it once, her cardigans did not look as good on him as his tweed jackets looked on her.

He'd tried to focus, for her, tried to focus on what the Silence wanted, he needed to know that to save her…but all he could gather was the little girl was unique and important to them. River claimed she was human, because of the software on the life support, but there was something…off about even that. The suit itself…it was torn open. The little girl had to be very strong to force her way out of it…he doubted she carried a Swiss army knife with her or anything. The suit had told them another thing, the Silence had been behind the humans' sudden need to get to the moon, why else would they start to craft life support suits besides the fact that the Silence needed one and needed the humans to make one for them?

He felt terribly guilty though. Mac had been taken, yes, and he was at his wits end about it and SHE was a Time Lord and a UNIT agent and more than capable of handling herself. Amy was taken too and she was only human, a spunky human yes, but human and fragile (despite what Amy might say about that). He'd tried to comfort Rory, heard Amy profess her love for the boy though he was sure Rory thought she had been talking about HIM instead. He tried to offer Rory comfort but it came out as talking about dead hostages being useless and then bringing up his time as a Roman and being not-real. He knew Rory had only been one for a short time but…it was something niggling his thoughts given how Amy kept trying to talk to him. He knew what it was about and he just wanted to see if Rory had the same sort of thing knocking around in his head so he could direct Amy towards the boy again instead of handling it himself.

He hadn't been much help to Rory though, he couldn't bear to speak to him longer than he had. Hearing Amy crying, hearing Mac trying to keep her calm and comforted even though there was something off in her voice, like she was fighting against some sort of drug or something was disconcerting and alarming him and distracting him and this was all FAR too important for him to make a mistake in anger.

But he was ready now, he had a plan, and he was going after Mac and Amy if it was the last thing he did.

He pulled a lever and set the TARDIS down, able to hear Amy screaming 'No!' from outside the doors. He grabbed a small TV and ran for the doors, dashing out, his hearts pounding as he wondered why he couldn't hear Mac and got his answer. She was strapped to an operating board off to the side, her head lolled to the side pale, unconscious. Amy was ahead of him, sitting on a sort of chair, strapped to that with a Silent leaning over her, awake.

"Oh!" he called, seeing River rushing over to Mac before he could even take a step, pressing her fingers to her neck to see if there was a pulse and nodded, just knocked out, "Interesting," he looked around as River pulled out her blaster and kept it ready, standing by Mac like a guard, "Very Aickman Road, Kenzie and I saw one of these before. Abandoned, wonder how that happened. Oh, well! I suppose I'm about to find out. Rory, River, keep one Silent in eyeshot at all times," he ordered, looking at the Silence intently, "Listen, have you seen what's on the telly?" he asked them, striding forward to put the small television on the console of their control panels, "Ah, now, stay where you are," he warned as one Silent turned towards him, "Because look at me, I'm confident. You want to watch that, me, when I'm confident. Oh, and this is my friend, River," he nodded to her as she stood before Mac, turning her gun at the Silence around the Time Lady, "Nice hair, clever, has own gun, and unlike me, she really doesn't mind shooting people. I shouldn't like that. Kind of do."

"Thank you, sweetie," she nodded, though she sounded more than a bit distracted, focusing on the Silence instead.

He smirked, seeing her focus, "I know you're team players and everything, but she'll definitely kill at least the first three of you…"

"The first seven, easily."

"Seven, really?"

"If they don't stop trying to get to Mackenzie," she glared at them, making the Silence who had been trying to approach stop.

"Excellent," the Doctor's smirk widened and he turned back to the head Silent, seeing Mac well protected, putting his trust in River for the moment at least, "As I was saying, my rather protective friend here is going kill the first three of you to attack, plus him behind. So maybe you want to draw lots, or have a quiz or maybe you could just listen a minute, because all I really want to do is accept your total surrender, and then I'll let you go in peace. Maybe, I mean you DID kidnap my Chosen," he narrowed his eyes at the Silence, River looking over at him as he called Mac that, not even seeming to realize he had verbally said what she was sure he'd been thinking for years now, "And you've been interfering in human history for thousands of years. People have suffered and died. But what's the point in two hearts, if you can't be a bit forgiving now and then. Though you ought to be glad Kenzie's not awake right now, she can have a rather vicious streak to her when she wants and I doubt she'd be too happy with you right now," he looked at the main Silent, but got nothing from him, "Ooh! The Silence. You guys take that seriously, don't you? Ok, you got me, I'm lying. I'm not really going to let you go that easily. Nice thought, but it's not Christmas. And, as I said before, you kidnapped MY Chosen!" he snapped, actually making Rory and Amy flinch to hear him sound like that, "So…if you even want a chance of getting out of here, you tell me…the girl. Who is she? Why is she important? What's she for?" but still the Silence lived up to their namesakes, "Guys, sorry. But you're way out of time. Now, come on, a bit of history for you. Aren't you proud, because you helped?" he turned to the TV and pulled up the antennas, "Do you know how many people are watching this live on the telly?" he turned back to them, tapping the box, "Half a billion, and that's nothing, because the human race will spread out among the stars, you just watch them fly. Billions and billions of them, for billions and billions of years. And every single one of them, at some point in their lives, will look back at this man, taking that very first step, and they will never, ever forget it," he looked at the screen where the moon landing was being broadcast right that very moment, "Oh," he pulled out a mobile phone, "But they'll forget this bit. Ready?" he asked into it, before looking at the telly again.

"It's one small step for man..." it began…

When a Silent suddenly appeared on the screen, "You should kill us all on sight!" it ordered.

The Doctor grinned, "You've given the order for your own execution, and the whole planet just heard you."'

Before the footage picked up again.

"One giant leap for mankind."

"And one whacking great kick up the backside for the Silence! You just raised an army against yourself. And now, for a thousand generations, you're going to be ordering them to destroy you every day. How fast can you run? Because today's the day the human race throw you off their planet," he eyed the main Silent as it advanced, slowly gathering their electrical energy to them as he moved, "They won't even know they're doing it. I think, quite possibly the word you're looking for right now is, 'Oops!' Run! Guys, I mean us! Run!" he ran back towards them as River began to fire her blaster.

"I can't get her out!" Rory shouted, struggling with Amy's restraints.

"Go, just go!" Amy urged him.

"We are not leaving without you!"

"Will you just get your stupid face out of here?!"

The Doctor ran over and flashed the sonic at Amy's chair, releasing her, "Get to the TARDIS!" he shoved them off, Rory helping to pull Amy's arm over his shoulder and lead her off, River covering them. He ran over to Mac, quickly flashing the sonic on her restraints, catching her as she fell out of her harness and into his arms, scooping her up into them as he turned to River, "River!"

"Go!" she shouted, waving him on, "I've got this, get her out of here!"

The Doctor ran for the TARDIS, dashing in and carrying Mac up to the jump seat, the woman starting to wake slowly from the jolting. He quickly scanned her, relieved to see that it was just some sort of sedative that the Silence had given her. It made sense, the way she'd sounded over the recorder, it had to be the Silence trying to give her different drugs to knock her out. Though he didn't know why, "Amy," he turned to her, "What did they do to her? To you?"

"Nothing," Amy shook her head, "I was awake the whole time, I was too scared to sleep. She talked to me the whole time. They seemed to just want to knock her out. Didn't turn the lights on till just before you got there."

The Doctor looked over at the doors, hearing the firing suddenly stop, "Rory?"

He nodded, "I've got it," and dashed to the doors to check on River.

The Doctor looked back at Mac, "Kenzie?" he reached up to cup her face in his hands, stroking her cheeks, "You ok?" but she still seemed woozy, "Kenzie? Mackenzie…sweetheart?"

She nodded, blinking blearily as she tried to force herself awake, "Can't call me that," she murmured.

"What?"

"Sweetheart."

"Why not?" he started to smile.

"Isn't that what River calls you?" her words slurred a little.

He laughed, "No, that's sweetie."

"Oh," she nodded, her head still fuzzy and woozy.

He leaned in and kissed her forehead, "Just rest, leave the daring escape to your handsome knight."

"Prefer stupid old Doctor," she murmured.

"Then leave it to him," he joked, not at all insulted, she'd used to say that on Gallifrey to him, when she was being fond or when he'd do something or get embarrassed about something that she found sweet, she'd just laugh and tell him he was being a stupid, old Doctor, and then kiss him.

He turned and ran for the console, just as River ran in and joined him, "You can let me fly it!"

"Or we could go where we're supposed to," River remarked.

"Don't shout," Mac rubbed her temples, "My head's pounding…" she let out a soft groan, "And can we keep the bumping down?"

"Of course," the Doctor nodded, reaching out to hit the blue stabilizers.

"Thanks," Mac swallowed, glancing over to see Amy and Rory talking, probably having a moment, yeah…it looked like they were having a moment given that Amy kissed him in the end, but she closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her stomach, whatever drugs they'd given her she felt like she was about to be sick.

She looked up though when she felt someone rub her back in comfort to see it was River. She offered her a tense smile and patted River's hand as it came to rest on her shoulder.

~8~

Mac hadn't been able to go with the Doctor to say goodbye to Nixon, she'd still felt rather shaky and light-headed, but the man had given the president and Canton her regards. She had, however, been able to go with him to say goodbye to River as they dropped her back off at Stormcage upon her insistence. And so the two Time Lords were standing before her cell as River stood in the doorway of it.

"You really should come with us," Mac remarked, looking around, "I…I'm not fond of the thought of you in jail."

River smiled at that, "Nor am I but I escape often enough. And I have a promise to live up to," her smiled turned sad as she looked between them, "You'll understand, soon enough. You make the same promise one day."

"Ok, up to you," the Doctor nodded slowly, seeing River looked reluctant but determined, "Come on Kenzie," he took her hand and headed for the TARDIS, "See you next time. Call us."

"He'll actually ANSWER this time," Mac promised, "I've set the TARDIS to pick up your calls and broadcast them to us."

"What, that's it?" River laughed and shook her head at them, "What's the matter with you?"

The Doctor blinked and turned around, "Have we forgotten something?"

"Yeah," she nodded, stepping out of her cell and over to them, "You're not allowed to leave without giving me a hug, or have the Silence made you forget that?" she moved over to them, hugging the Doctor tightly as he awkwardly patted her back, "Not letting go till I get a big old Doctor bear hug mister."

The Doctor looked at Mac over River's shoulder but she could only shrug so he gave River the biggest hug he could muster.

River smiled widely as she pulled away only to see his awkward look, "What's wrong?" she frowned at him, "You're acting like you've never hugged me goodbye before."

"I um…haven't."

"You haven't?" she blinked and looked at Mac, "Mackenzie?"

"No, sorry," Mac offered, "But I'm happy to give one," she stepped over and hugged a somewhat startled and upset River. She could see that the fact that she just wanted a hug and they were unsure about why had upset her and she didn't want to see tears again, too much sadness had already happened.

River closed her eyes and hugged her tightly, "It's not your fault," she whispered in Mac's ear before the woman could pull away, "What happens next time you see me…it's not your fault, and I don't blame you," she pulled away, looking at Mac who looked confused and startled, "Just…remember that," she told her.

River offered them both one more smile before she turned and walked back into her cell, closing the door behind her and moving to sit on her small cot, pulling out her diary to write in. The Time Lords looked at each other a moment, before they turned and headed into the TARDIS, giving one more look back at the woman in the cell before closing the doors and disappearing as River watched them go sadly.

~8~

"Rory?" Mac called as she stood at the console, seeing the Doctor casting looks at Amy, "Could you get me the green and blue thermo-couplings?"

"Ok," Rory nodded, "Hold on," he headed down the stairs.

"Go on," Mac nudged the Doctor, knowing he wanted to speak to Amy.

He smiled at her and nodded Amy over to them, "You're ok?" he asked her quietly.

"Fine," Amy nodded, "Head's a bit weird. There's lots of stuff I can't quite remember…"

"It's because of the Silence," Mac reached out to squeeze her shoulder, "The neural 'bruising' so to speak. Other than that you're perfectly healthy."

"But that's not what I was asking," the Doctor gave Amy a pointed look, "You told me you were pregnant."

"Yes," Amy nodded, startling Mac with that information.

"Why?"

"Because I was. I thought I was."

"You thought you were pregnant?" Mac blinked at her, not having known that, "Why didn't you say anything when I scanned you Amy?"

"Cos I took a test," Amy shrugged, "Turns out I wasn't."

"So why did you tell ME?" the Doctor eyed her.

Amy shrugged, "You're my friend. You're my best friend."

"Did you tell Rory?"

Mac glanced down through the floor at where Rory was to see a faint red light in his hand, realizing he was listening to all of this.

"No."

"Amy, why tell me and not Rory?"

"Why do you think? I travelled with you in this TARDIS for so long. All that time. If I was pregnant for some of it, wouldn't it have had an effect? I don't want to tell Rory, this baby might have three heads, or like a time head or something."

"What's a time head?"

"I don't know, but what if it had one?"

"A time head?"

"Shut up, alright!"

"Amy," Mac shook her head, looking back at Amy, "You and Rory listened to me, right? When I told you what could happen on the TARDIS if you two were…you know," she gave her a pointed look, "What that sort of radiation and environment could mean for your baby if you conceived?"

"Yeah," Amy nodded, "Of course we did."

Mac had spoken to them on their wedding night, knowing full well what was expected of a married couple on their wedding night, which seemed like it would be spent onboard the TARDIS. She'd warned them that, much like women who smoked or drank when pregnant could affect the baby, the environment could affect the baby as well. Like…humans who lived in radiated areas or drank contaminated water, their children could suffer for it. She'd said that traveling in the TARDIS gave off a sort of background radiation of a similar sense and warned that, while they weren't sure what would happen to humans as if a Time Lord was around a TARDIS and pregnant, everything would be normal, the radiation would actually be good for them, but humans? It wasn't a compatible radiation. It was harmless in general, but they had NO idea what it could mean for a baby and a human during pregnancy.

It had been why Amy and Rory had been on that starliner cruise, why she'd tried to find a place for them to 'have some privacy' after that. She didn't know if the humans had heeded her warning or advice, it seemed like it did but…even a baby conceived OFF of the TARDIS, to be around all that radiation, it couldn't be good, they were so small and fragile and things that hardly ever affected an adult human affected the baby's greatly.

"Then you're fine," Mac reassured her, squeezing her arm again before letting go, "Though you may need to reassure Rory of that," she nodded down.

Amy glanced through the floor and rolled her eyes, "Oi! Stupid face."

They could see Rory wince but NOT look up, knowing which women were above him, and made his way to the stairs again, coming up them, "Er, yeah. Hello."

"Taking that away from you, if you're going to listen in all the time," Amy warned him, nodding at the recorder in his hand.

"Ok, that's a fair point," Rory nodded, "But you should've told me that you thought you were pregnant. I'm a nurse, I'm good with pregnancy."

"Not, as it turns out, that good. So can you stop being stupid?" Amy walked over and hugged him tightly.

"Er, no. Never. I'm never, ever going to stop being stupid!" he hugged her back, lifting her off the floor to spin her around, making her laugh.

"So," the Doctor clapped, "This little girl, it's all about her. Who was she? Or we could just go off and have some adventures. Anyone in the mood for adventures? I am. You only live once."

Mac looked at him sadly, knowing that it wasn't like him to not go after the child to help, but she knew why he was avoiding it. They'd gone there to help the girl…and gotten captured, been hunted, been attacked, she and Amy had been taken, and it was just a whole big danger. He was afraid the little girl hadn't been as innocent as he'd first thought, that it was all a ploy, that she was in on the trap. Their enemies had to know that neither of them could resist helping a child and had used the girl to lure them into a trap. The Doctor was NOT going to let it happen. For all they knew the girl was still with the Silence and would be working on another way to lure them in again. He was trying to avoid that.

'_What did they do to you Naey?_' the Doctor called, glancing at Mac as she slowly worked on her side of the console, him waiting for a scan to run on Amy.

'_Nothing,_' she smiled, '_Whatever it was, they seemed to be after Amy,_' she let out a little laugh, '_Wrong place, wrong time, you're rubbing off on me._'

The Doctor nodded at that, relieved, if they'd wanted Mac, if they'd wanted a Time Lady, they would have hidden her better, kept her far away, done something to her but Amy had said they'd done nothing. It seemed like they were just trying to use Mac as leverage against him and do something to Amy, knock Mac out so that they could focus on Amy instead.

Which reminded him…

He looked at the scan he was running and his small smile fell seeing the results. He'd run a pregnancy scan on her, just because she hadn't conceived on the TARDIS (as he'd gotten from the implications of what Mac and Amy were saying) didn't mean she couldn't be pregnant right now or have gotten pregnant at some point and he'd have to make sure that she was out of the TARDIS if that happened. Or, they might have thought they were being careful but accidently done the deed in the TARDIS. Or...

He shook his head, his thoughts were getting away from him and he couldn't afford that now, it didn't matter how or when it happened...because that scan?

It was flashing both positive and negative.

A/N: Poor Mac, just in the wrong place at the wrong time :( But awww, Doctor to the rescue :) And Amy, -sigh- sometimes, no matter how careful you are, things happen.

I also apologize for the delay, this just isn't my week :( I went to post the chapters and my Doc Manager actually still had the 2 docs in them (for this and Merlin)...except it ad 0 words listed. Erased everything IN the docs :( I DID have the edited versions saved and went to upload them, and it wouldn't let me upload anything or past it to the Docs that were still there :( I've been trying to paste/upload again every 10 minutes since this morning and it FINALLY allowed it! So I'm posting this now before it can try and delete the chapter again :)

Some notes on reviews...

River is still Melody Pond ;)

I can't say when Teddy will arrive, I have a note pending for a later chapter about him, but I can't say what it is till we get there though :)

The weather was a little chilly, we had a really faint snow that only lasted on the roof of a few houses but had melted by morning on the grass :)

We'll have to wait and see how many Doctors and/or Macs will be running around with the Gangers ;)

I have a DW crossover planned for the future, but it would be with Merlin, I couldn't really get into Wizards of Waverly Place :)


	4. Bad Night

Bad Night

"Got it!" the Doctor shouted as he ran for the TARDIS doors, pushing them open for Mac as she entered, holding a goldfish in a bowl balanced precariously in her hands, "Got it!"

"Was the phone just ringing?" Mac looked at Amy as the ginger girl stood by the console in her nightie…with a phone in her hand so that answered that question.

"I think that's probably for me!" the Doctor rushed up to take the phone from Amy as Mac followed him, "Hello! Ah! Yes, everything's fine! Don't worry. Well exactly," he started to pace, forcing Mac and Amy to dunk under the wire, "Why should you be worrying? Who even mentioned worrying?"

Mac rolled her eyes and made the 'stop talking' motion with one hand before taking the phone from the Doctor with said hand, "Hello?" she blinked, hearing the voice on the other end, "Yes, your mother is just fine," she nodded.

"Don't answer this phone," the Doctor hissed at Amy, "Only Kenzie or I answer this phone."

"Where have you been?" Amy hissed right back.

"A party, just a party."

"I'm with her right now your majesty," Mac nodded, listening to the person on the other end continue to speak, "She's just busy speaking to other representatives."

The Doctor leaned over to peer at the fish, "That's your son, ma'am, he probably wants to talk to you but we can't let him see you like this…well, hear you, not that he could hear you, you're a fish!"

"Doctor stop talking," Mac whispered, pressing the phone to her shoulder, "You're going to alarm her."

He winced, hearing the phone start to ring again, "Shall I put that through?"

Mac nodded, "Sorry your majesty, just a mo," she handed the phone to the Doctor as he patched in the next call.

"Hello?" he winced, quickly pulling the phone as far away from his ear as he could, nearly taking Amy's head off at the same time, "There is not a bit of use yelling ambassador," he cut in, "Your warrior chief is trapped in my TARDIS and, until you've turned Her Majesty here back into a human being, he's staying put. Don't worry. He's perfectly safe…" he trailed off, staring at something on the console.

Mac followed his gaze to see that there was a rolled up bit of newspaper lying there…with a dead fly on it. She looked up to see Amy glancing between them guiltily before she sighed, "Shall I put him on hold?"

The Doctor nodded, "Just…putting you on hold," he repeated to the ambassador, before hanging up the phone and picking up the newspaper, examining the fly…perhaps it was just injured?

Nope…it was efficiently swatted.

"Amelia…" Mac looked at her, "Did you have anything to do with that?"

"I thought it was a fly," Amy nodded.

"So much for the slaughterer of 10 million souls," the Doctor sighed, tossing the roll over his shoulder.

"What is going on?!" Amy demanded, looking between them. She'd been trying to sleep and been unable to and had tried to just wander the TARDIS. She was trying to make her way to the kitchen for some warm milk when she'd heard the phone ringing and gone to answer it because, apparently, the Doctor had done something and it wasn't going to answerphone yet.

"Nothing," the Doctor said, at the same time that Mac added, "We were at a party."

The Doctor sighed, trying to say, "There was a slight incident," while Mac stated, "The Queen was turned into a fish."

Amy blinked, "How did THAT happen?"

"No idea!" the Doctor called, but Mac just smirked, saying, "The Doctor," at the same time.

"Are you two going to do that all the time now?" Amy frowned at them, "I can barely understand him on a good day," Amy added with a little nod to the Doctor.

"The Doctor insulted a Shaman ambassador and it turned the Queen into a fish," Mac said firmly.

Amy started to nod at that, as though it were perfectly normal, which it was right about then…but then something that should have been perfectly normal struck her as odd, "Wait, what, so you sneak out at night to party? Is that why you're all dressed up? You never dress up."

Mac looked at the Doctor, dressed in a black suit and top hat, to see he was looking at HER, dressed in a slightly more formal version of her typical attire, a white and black stripped dress with a black shrug, "HE was trying to sneak out."

"And what, got caught by mum here?" Amy nodded at Mac.

"She's not my mother," the Doctor stuck his tongue out at Amy.

"But I DID catch him in the act, yes," Mac nodded.

Amy shook her head at them, "Is River at the party?"

"Why would she be there?" the Doctor blinked, not sure what that had to do with anything.

"You're all dressed up," Amy pointed out to him.

The Doctor scoffed, "River isn't the one I dress up for," he sent a wink at Mac.

"But very good guess Amy," Mac nodded, "River IS actually out there."

"Ha, see!?" Amy grinned at the Doctor.

The Doctor just rolled his eyes, "Sorry, but we're in the middle of a thing," he told her, taking Mac's hand and leading her back to the doors, the fish still in Mac's hands.

"Doctor, Mac, I…I need to talk to you…" Amy called, making them stop and turn to her, "There is a reason that I couldn't sleep…"

Mac opened her mouth to ask her what was wrong when the Doctor shouted out, "RORY!" much like he had when the TARDIS had materialized inside itself.

"What are you doing?!" Amy hissed at him.

"You've got the serious face on. I always shout for Rory when you've got the serious face. RORY! She's having an emotion!"

Mac just shook her head at that, "You really are terrible at this aren't you?"

Rory however, came when called, able to hear the Doctor shouting all the way from inside the TARDIS, and appeared, yawning and pulling on a dressing gown, "What? What's wrong Amy?"

"Why are you calling _him_?!" Amy whispered to the Doctor and Mac.

"Not my choice," Mac reminded her, at the same time the Doctor stated, "It's his turn."

"Ok, really you two stop doing that," Amy huffed…before the Doctor's words caught up to her and she spun to Rory, "You two have turns?!"

"NO!" the Doctor suddenly shouted, making the Ponds look at him, "It's the wrong fish," he looked at Mac in horror, "We've taken the wrong fish," he turned to rush to the doors as Mac squinted at the fish, calling out them, "River we've got the wrong fish!" before he glanced at the Ponds, "Uh, look sorry you two, I've made a mistake. We've got three hours to save the Commonwealth."

"Doctor…" Mac began.

But Rory asked, "What happens in three hours?"

"The pet shops open," the Doctor stated, taking Mac's hand and pulling her outside.

"Doctor it's the right fish," Mac remarked.

He just grinned, "I know," he laughed, moving to set it on a table, catching River's glance across the room and nodding at it, the woman nodding back and heading over to fishsit, while he just pulled Mac further into the room, "I only said that so we could get out of there before Amy got all shouty."

"You shouldn't have told her you and Rory take turns," she chastised him lightly.

"Probably not," he agreed, "But it got her to focus on Rory and not us. All according to plan."

Mac scoffed, "What plan?"

"This plan," he suddenly turned, her nearly running into him which seemed to be his exact plan as he wound an arm around her waist, using the motion to guide her into a small slow dance that was currently playing on the dance floor.

Mac just looked at him, "All that so you could have a dance?"

"No," he shook his head, "All that so I could have a dance with YOU," he murmured, "I'd kidnap a thousand Queens, hold a million warrior chiefs hostage, listen to an eternity of Amy yelling if it meant I got to dance with you like this."

Mac let out a breath at that, "You're doing a very good job at this wooing business," she remarked, seeing a truth in his eyes, he was serious about that.

He grinned, "Good," he nodded, "Cos I have been saving up all my skills to use on a very special ginger."

"It better be me," she warned jokingly.

"Always," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her gently, smiling softly as she rested her head on his shoulder when they pulled away, the two of them just continuing to sway to the music, enjoying the party.

A/N: Aww little bit of sweetness for the Doctor and Mac :)

Some notes on reviews...

We'll have to see what the Silence are planning...after all, 'future Mac' wasn't there at the lake with the Doctor }:)

The Doctor was running it on Amy :) I had he was 'waiting for a scan to run on Amy' ;) The Doctor knows Mac can't be pregnant, she can't have children, so there's no need to run a pregnancy scan on her :( I can say that will NOT change in this story (unlike in Merlin) there is nothing the Doctor or anyone can do to make Mac pregnant :'(

I always felt like the Doctor should have been more parental than romantic with River in the show. Given she was the daughter of his companions. I always felt like he kept seeing Amy as 'the little girl from five minutes ago' and if he saw her as a child, then her child should have been even MORE of a child to him to protect...especially since he got to hold baby-Melody in his arms. I think that's one reason why I never could get into River/Doctor, I just felt like, being the child of his companion, he should have seen River more as like a pseudo-granddaughter or something :/

I can say River is still Melody Pond and that Amy is still pregnant with River ;)

Lol, you SO read my mind! That was exactly when I was planning to have the Merlin/DW take place ;) Not sure which TL it would be with though ;) Definitely either Evy or Angel, just because...well, Oncoming Storm if his child is accused of sorcery too }:)

The Merlin/DW would cross over one of my OC DW stories with my Merlin (Arthur/OC) story so it would definitely be Mergana ;)


	5. The Curse of the Black Spot

The Curse of the Black Spot

"Doctor…" Mac whisper-hissed as the Doctor started trying to bang on a grate just above them, flashing it with the sonic to try and get it unlocked so they could sneak out. The TARDIS had seemed to land in a sort of storeroom of sorts that was taking on water, like a ship, and the Doctor, instead of going somewhere drier had just slipped on out and begun to trek through the sloshing liquid to the grate instead, "Are you sure you should do that?"

She'd run an environment scan and, given the date and time they had landed in, this ship was either one of the royal navy…or a pirate ship. And if it was the latter, she was quite sure that they would not be very amused to have stowaways onboard. The sonic wasn't exactly quiet and neither was the Doctor with all his banging on the hatch.

"Quite sure," he winked at her, banging on the hatch once more…

Only for it to be thrown open and a handful of pirates to stare down at them, the captain, or what appeared to be the captain, aiming his pistol right at the Doctor though Amy and Rory flinched back as well.

"Yo ho ho!" the Doctor merely grinned up at them, "Or does nobody actually say that?"

"If you stop using your mouth and start using your brain, you'd know the answer to that," Mac sighed.

So it was pirates then.

Wonderful.

~8~

Mac was starting to think the duct tape she kept in her pockets at all times should have been used by now as she stood beside the Doctor as he tried to explain to the captain of the ship, Avery they'd heard one of the crew call him, why they were there and how they'd even gotten onboard in the middle of the ocean.

"We made no signal!" Avery shouted.

"Our sensors picked you up," the Doctor shrugged, "Ship in distress."

"Sensors?"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded slowly, looking at Mac as Amy and Rory appeared most unamused, "Ok. Problem word. Seventeenth century."

"Our ship was able to tell that yours was in distress," Mac offered instead.

"Your ship?" Avery frowned, "That big blue crate!?"

The Doctor snapped his fingers at the man and pointed while another man, Avery's second in command, turned to him, "Tis more magic, Captain Avery. They're spirits. How else would they have found their way below decks?"

"Well, I want to say multidimensional engineering…" the Doctor began.

"Sensors, Doctor," Mac reminded him.

"Right yes, you had a problem with sensors I won't go there. Look, I'm the Doctor, this lovely woman is Mackenzie," he winked at her, draping his arm around her waist and tugging her close, "That's Amy and Rory," he pointed to them, standing on either side of him, "We're pirates, same as you," he patted the man on the arm and turned to look at the other pirates, "Arghhhhh!" but when he turned around, Avery had his pistol aimed at the Doctor's face once more, "Except for the gun thing," he observed the captain, "And the beardiness."

"You're stowaways!" Avery declared, "Only explanation. Eight days, we've been stranded here. Becalmed. You must have stowed away before we sailed."

"If we had, wouldn't you have noticed us after 8 straight days of nothing?" Mac raised an eyebrow at that, "You, s a captain, know every inch of this ship, you'd have noticed a big blue box that didn't belong and four extra people wandering about. And you're not even wearing an eyepatch so you can't blame a blind spot. So either we weren't there before you sailed or you're one of the worst pirates out there," Avery glared at her for that.

"What do we do with 'em?" the second in command looked at Avery.

Avery just smirked, his gaze on Mac, "Oh, I think they deserve our hospitality."

The Doctor frowned, looking between Avery and Mac, "I don't like how he's looking at you Kenzie," he told her.

"Nor do I," she sighed, just able to imagine the trouble the Doctor had gotten them into this time.

~8~

Walking the plank, she should have expected that, she realized as she was made to stand on the middle of it, her hands bound before her. The Doctor, Rory, and Amy were restrained behind her. It seemed that her remark about Avery being one of the worst pirates ever was driving him to try and prove that was not the case at all and there she was, about to walk the plank all because of one man and his bruised ego. But truly, what man in their right mind would think a large blue box that did not suit the times could just stand there in the middle of a ship without the pirates noticing? Granted, he had no idea that the TARDIS had a perception filter on it or that it could turn invisible, but given what he DID know, his theory was ridiculous.

"Let her go!" the Doctor was struggling in the hold of the pirate grabbing him, well, two of them. It seemed that was another reason SHE was walking the plank. Avery could tell that the Doctor cared for her and he assumed the Doctor was the captain of the other vessel, which was mostly true. The Doctor was the only recognized pilot, but he liked to keep her involved in decisions and piloting so she was unofficially the co-captain. Avery was trying to send a message to a fellow captain by having his 'woman' walk the plank, "Let her go! Kenzie!"

"Stocks are low," Avery pointed his sword at the Doctor's throat, forcing him quiet, but the Doctor glared at him nonetheless, "Only one barrel of water remains. We don't need four more empty bellies to fill. Take the other doxy below to the galley," he called, nodding at Amy, "Set her to work. She won't need much feeding."

"Rory, a little help?!" Amy called out as she was led away.

"Hey, listen right, she's not a doxy," Rory told Avery.

Amy rolled her eyes at that before she was forced below deck, "I didn't mean just tell him off. Thanks anyway."

"If you're lucky," Avery turned to Mac, "You'll drown before the sharks can take a bite."

"I'm rather a good swimmer," Mac told him, "And I've dealt with sharks before."

"Look, look, look," the Doctor called, nearly pleading and still struggling to get free, "If this is just because I'm a captain too, you shouldn't feel threatened. Your ship is much bigger than mine. And I don't have the cool boots. Or a hat, even. Please, you don't need to do this. Just…just let her go. I'LL walk the plank, put me in her place, just let her go!"

Avery grinned and turned his pistol on Mac, "Time to go."

"Hold on," Mac blinked and turned around, "Speaking of empty bellies…your crew…"

"Now?!" the Doctor gaped at her, standing on the plank, "You want to do this NOW?!"

"Learned to do it from the best," she smirked at him, before looking at Avery, "This is a larger ship than should be manned by just 5 crewmembers…what happened to the rest of the crew?"

"They're below."

"No," Mac shook her head, "Because if they were, you wouldn't have sent Amy below and they'd be up here helping you deal with your prisoners. You've barely one man for each of us…"

"Avast!" Amy suddenly shouted, jumping out from behind a crate she'd snuck behind while the men were distracted, a pirate coat and hat on her head, a sword in her hand. She grinned, pointing the sword at Avery's throat, "Throw the gun down," she ordered and he did so, kicking it away, "The rest of you, on your knees."

"Amy?" Rory shifted, "What are you doing?"

"Saving all your sorry butts," she smirked, "Ok with that, are you?"

"Put down the sword," Avery held his hands up, trying to stop her, "A sword could kill us all, girl."

"Yep, thanks. That is actually why I'm pointing it at you," she tilted the sword up on a little more of an angle, only for one of the pirates to attack her with a wooden stick. Amy jumped back but was able to defend herself, distracting the pirates enough for Mac to make her way back to the edge of the ship, the Doctor helping her down and sonicing the straps on her wrists free, rubbing them in his hands as he saw they were slightly red from the rope.

Mac smiled, seeing his eyes narrowing at the markings, and leaned forward to give him a kiss on the cheek for his concern…when they heard one of the men gasp.

They looked over to see Amy swinging onto a barrel from a rope, another man holding his hand as though Amy had just slashed it with the sword.

"You have killed me!" the pirate gasped, a taller black man who was now staring at his hand in horror.

"No way," Amy scoffed, "It's just a cut. What kind of rubbish pirates are you?"

"One drop, that's all it takes," Avery warned, "One drop of blood and she will rise out of the ocean."

"Come on," Amy rolled her eyes, "I barely even scratched him. What are you all in such a huff about?"

The Doctor rushed forward, seeing one of the pirates about to attack her, "I'll just…take that shall I?" he reached out for her sword just as she tried to point it threateningly at the pirate to make him stop as they all appeared utterly terrified of getting nicked…and ended up nicking the Doctor in the process, "Ow, Amy!" the Doctor huffed, snatching the sword from her hand and tossing it to the side.

"Hold on," Mac moved forward, taking his hand and frowning, seeing a black spot starting to form in the middle of his palm, "What's that all about? Rory?" she looked at him, "Medical opinion?"

Rory stepped over to the Doctor's side and looked at his hand too, "I think…well it's got to be…I mean it could…I've no idea," he sighed, "Sorry."

Mac just patted his shoulder and looked at the Doctor as he tried to sonic his hand, a small pout of confusion on his face as well.

"She can smell the blood on your skin," Avery told them solemnly, "She's marked you for death."

"She?" Amy gave him a look.

"A demon, out there in the ocean."

"You always manage to attract all the trouble, don't you Doctor?" Mac sighed, "Pirates and a demon all in one trip."

"Well at least she's efficient, whoever she is," the Doctor shrugged, not seeming very concerned, he'd been marked for death numerous times in the past, "I mean if something's going to kill you, it's nice that it drops you a note to remind…you…" he slowly trailed off, "Do you hear that?"

They quieted down, able to hear a gentle singing sound in the air, "Quickly now!" the black pirate cried, "Block out the sound!" he put his hands over his ears.

"What's going on?" Mac turned to Avery.

"The creature," he looked at them, grabbing his pistol off the ground for protection, "She charms all her victims with that song."

The Doctor looked at the black pirate, "And you think putting our fingers in our ears will block that out?"

"Look, why don't we get back to the TARDIS?" Rory suggested, "It should have scanners like the ones you ran on us after America Mac…"

"Yes," the Doctor pointed at Rory, "Let's get back to the...back to the...um…" he started blinking quickly, a soft smile coming to his face.

"Doctor?" Mac stared at him, concerned.

"The music," the second in command whispered, "It's working on him. Look."

"Doctor are you alright?" Mac touched his arm.

The Doctor just grabbed her hand and tugged her closer, throwing her arm over his shoulder as he wound an arm around her waist, taking her other hand in his and starting to sway, "It's a lovely song," he murmured, his words slurring just slightly, "Not nearly as lovely as you," he opened his eyes to gaze dazedly at her, "Your hair is so beautiful. YOU are beautiful…"

Mac blinked, "You're not flirting with me," she stated this time, knowing that something as just off about all this.

"Oh I am," he nodded…and just kept nodding, till his head seemed to get heavier and came to rest on her shoulder, "You smell nice," he whispered, shifting his head so his nose was lightly bushing on her neck, "You know, you should dress up like a pirate too," he pulled away, "You'd be the most wonderful pirate queen, my pirate queen mind you," he nearly stumbled as he pointed at Avery, "No tossing my pirate queen off the plank eh?"

"Doctor you need to stop…" Mac tried to reel him back, "Something's wrong…"

"Something's very, very right!" he suddenly spun around, taking her face in his hands, "And that's you. You Mackenzie-Kenzie-Kenny are the only right thing in my life. With your hair and your clothes and your voice and your eyes," he tilted her head forward so he could rest his forehead to hers…staring into her eyes and making her go slightly cross-eyed in the process, "Beautiful eyes. I wish I was handsome enough for you."

"You're handsome enough Doctor," she tugged back, patting his shoulder, knowing he most certainly wasn't wooing her right now as he was going quite over the top with it all.

"Really!?" he beamed at her, "Even with the bowtie and the flop-floppy hair and the tweed getup and the not-beard?"

"The…not-beard?" she shook her head at him.

"Pirates," he whispered, "If we're playing pirate, I need a beard."

"You had a beard once, it was rubbish, don't try for a beard."

"Ok," he nodded again, his head doing the noddy-heavy thing again till it rested on her shoulder once more, his arms winding around her, "You're warm. Always so warm…"

"Thanks?" Mac patted his back and looked at Amy and Rory over his shoulder, mouthing 'help' to them.

"The music turns them into fools," Avery whispered to the two humans.

"Never would have guessed that," Mac rolled her eyes at Avery.

"S'right," the Doctor murmured into her neck, "Ima fool for you."

"You're a fool all the time Doctor," she sighed, "My stupid old Doctor, always getting into trouble…"

"Oh, my God," Amy gasped, pulling all their attention to where she was looking at a section of the water that was glowing with what looked like green light.

A moment later a woman that was faintly glowing the same color shot out of it, drifting above them before landing on the deck, singing softly the same melody they'd heard. It reached out a hand and Mac, who had turned in the Doctor's arms to look, felt the arms around her tighten as the Doctor rested his chin on her shoulder, seeming to make no move or have no desire to step away from her even as the black pirate started to push his way past the men and head for the woman. He reached out his hand to the woman as she did him and, the moment she touched his finger…the man seemed to burst into ashes.

Mac shook her head, "Everybody into the hold!" she cried, turning to try and get the Doctor down there, but he seemed to want to just move with her, his grip tightening the louder the woman sang for it seemed she was trying to lure him away and in doing so, just made him hold faster to her, "Rory!" she called, "I need your help," she nodded at the Doctor as Rory helped Amy down with the pirates.

Rory rushed over, helping to try and pry the Doctor's arms from around her, ignoring his cries of 'Oi!' and 'Get off!' as he nudged the man down into the hold, pushing Mac to go with him last. They all landed in nearly knee deep water, Rory shutting the hatch above them to keep the woman from following.

"What is that thing?" Amy panted, looking at Mac…and blinking when she saw that the Doctor was holding up a part of her skirt, not high, just to the side, as though trying to help her keep it from getting wet despite the fact it wasn't that long, and was also trying to put his jacket around her from the chill of the water.

"The legend," Avery answered instead, "The siren. Many a merchant ship, laden with treasure has fallen prey to her. She's been hunting us ever since we were becalmed. Picking off the injured."

"Like a shark," the second in command agreed, "A shark can smell blood."

"Yeah, so can a vampire and half a dozen other mythical creatures that don't exist," Mac remarked dryly.

"The ship is cursed."

"Can't be!" the Doctor suddenly shouted, making them all jump, "Kenzie's here, and she's a blessing. A miracle. A…"

Mac made the 'stop talking' gesture and turned to Avery, "We're not cursed," she agreed with the Doctor there, "You just plumb for that when you don't know what's going on and can't seem to work it out."

"You're so brilliant," the Doctor smiled loopily at her.

"Thanks," she patted him on the shoulder, not even looking over at him, "But we can work out what she is later, first we need to get the Doctor somewhere safe. If she's coming after the people she's marked, then he's next and like hell am I going to let some harpy take him away."

Amy had to smirk at that, Mac was starting to get rather possessive, though she and Rory both knew why. Seeing him dying had given her quite the terrible shock, not that they blamed her, but it had left her feeling very…desperate to stay near the Doctor, keep him safe, make sure he was still there and alright.

"Should we go to the TARDIS?" Rory asked.

"Your ship?" Avery guessed, thinking it an odd name for a ship, "That box is really a ship?"

"It is," Mac nodded, "Just…not an ordinary one."

"Show me," Avery demanded, pulling out his pistol to aim it at her now, "Weigh anchor. Make it sail!"

"Ok, first off, put the gun down," she told him, shoving it out of her face, "You want to shoot me then your next best chance of getting our ship to get you out of here is currently braiding my hair, stop that Doctor," she slapped his hands away from her hair where he was fixated on trying to put a braid in it, "And who knows how long whatever the so-called Siren did to him will last. Do you really want to risk leaving your fate to him?" she nodded at the Doctor who was now running his fingers through her hair, staring at it with a mix of affection and wistfulness, "I didn't think so," she narrowed her eyes, "You need me alive, so you stop with the gun, you don't threaten any of the four of us and maybe, just maybe, we'll all manage to make it out of here alive."

And, of course, because someone had said that…one of the pirates gave a scream and pulled his leg from the water to see that there was something stuck to it.

"It's a leech!" Rory called, turning to quickly help Amy onto one of the crates.

"Get out of the water!" Mac shouted, everyone scrambling to do the same as the pirate pulled the leech off his leg.

"It's bitten me," the man breathed, "I'm bleeding…" before he noticed the spot on his hand.

"So it appeared when blood is drawn," Mac frowned, "Why the blood?"

Rory looked over to offer a suggestion…the term about blood being 'drawn' reminding him of something medical, when he laughed, seeing that the Doctor had plopped down on a crate, his feet a few inches above the water, and pulled Mac onto his lap, his arms wrapped around her as he rested his head on her shoulder and seemed to be nuzzling the side of her head happily.

But his laughter was soon cut off when the siren's song began again, behind them, and the woman appeared, popping out of the water.

"No, stop him!" Mac cried as the pirate began to walk towards the woman in a daze, no one making a move to do anything to help or stop him, the man bursting into ashes as they ran from the room and into a hall just beyond. They slammed the door shut and bolted it behind them, Mac turning to rest her back against it, the Doctor tugging one of the pirates that had helped her close the door away so he could rest back beside her, grinning at her for 'helping.'

"How did she get in?" Avery panted.

Mac bit her lip thinking, "There were no doors or windows open," she murmured, "Just the water…and she popped out of it just like in the ocean."

"What, she's using water like a…doorway?" Amy shook her head.

"Seems like it," Mac nodded.

"Ok, then we just have to go somewhere with no water," Rory stated.

"Well, thank God we're not in the middle of the ocean," Amy remarked.

"We should go see the ocean," the Doctor took Mac's hand, "We didn't get to appreciate it before, but you love the ocean. Should we have a go? Let's go have a look," he tried to step away from the door to pull her towards what she didn't know, perhaps a door to try and lead to the upperdeck, but Mac just tugged him back.

"Why don't we stay here," she offered.

"Whatever you want," the Doctor smiled, kissing her cheek, "Whatever makes you happy."

Mac had to smile at that a bit though, but shook her head to turn to Avery, "Is there any room on the ship that stands a chance of being dry?"

"Aye," he nodded, "The magazine."

"What?" Amy frowned, Rory looking just as confused.

"The armory," Mac explained, "They need a dry place to store the gunpowder."

"It's dry as a bone," Avery agreed.

"Well then," Mac gestured them on, "By your leave captain."

Avery nodded and turned to lead the way.

"Are we going with the pirates now?" the Doctor pouted as they headed on after him.

"Yes," Mac nodded, before glancing at him, "What's with the pout?"

"I wanted to go with YOU, not them," he told her, "We should go on a honeymoon when this is over."

She laughed at that, "To go on a honeymoon, we'd have to be married first."

"We are," he told her.

"No we're not. We both married different people."

"I know," he shrugged, "But , in my head, when I did, it was you I was marrying."

Mac blinked and looked at him for that, not having known that…not entirely sure if he was really telling her that or if it was an effect of the siren. She bit her lip, knowing she couldn't ask till they'd gotten this all sorted out, whatever he said now could be because of the siren and not true so she put it out of her mind for the moment, looking back as they came to a door where the second in command was trying to get the door open, trying to find the key to it.

"Quickly, man!" Avery called.

"The key, 'tis gone, Cap'n," the man shook his head.

"How can it have gone?"

"Move over," Mac stepped forward, "I'm a fair hand with a pin, I can pick the lock," she stepped closer, about to do it…when she noticed that it actually wouldn't be needed, "Or…we could just do this…" she pushed the door open, "I think you know where your key went now."

They slowly entered the room, the Doctor reaching out to take Mac's hand and tug her behind him, entering first, a serious expression on his face that was unlike the loopy one from before, which gave her hope that whatever the siren had done it was fading, he seemed nearly his protective old self.

"Barricade the door," Avery called as he slowly looked around, lighting a lamp, trying to see what might be in the room, for clearly it would have to be a stowaway who had snatched the key, "Careful of that lantern! Every barrel is full of powder."

"Are you sure?" Mac asked, moving among them and rapping on the top of each, only to hear one that appeared to be hollow…moments before a small cough sounded from inside it.

Avery stormed over and pulled the lid off, reaching in to yank a young boy out of it, "You fool. You fool, boy. What are you doing here?"

"You know him then?" Mac blinked.

"Aye," Avery sighed, "He's my son."

~8~

The boy, Toby, was a sweetheart, at least Mac thought so. He'd snuck aboard the ship because his mother had passed, had told him so many stories of how his father was a noble captain and he'd wanted to join the crew. But then they'd realized that he had the black spot on him. Rory had taken to examining him for cuts but also for looking at the cough that was rattling the boy's chest.

"There's nothing wrong with him," Rory told them as they sat around. The Doctor was lying on the middle of the floor, Mac sitting on the ground with his head on her lap, the man playing with her fingers. It appeared his momentary sign of being his old self was just a magnified need to protect her, brought on by the siren's song. After he'd realized it was a little boy he'd gone on to tell her that he thought they should adopt. Maybe find a little human boy or girl, maybe adopt the little girl in the astronaut suit, before deciding at small ferret would be better and just as good as a human child...which had slightly insulted Amy to think the Doctor might see her as a pet.

Mac had no idea what to say to that so she'd just sat down and he'd plopped right where he was and started to play with her hand, tracing her palm and entwining their fingers and playing with her fingers, distracting himself, which was a blessing to the others.

"He's got no cuts," Rory continued to Amy and Avery who were sitting on a few barrels, "No scars…"

"So the wounded and the ill then," Mac nodded, "But why? Is she hunting them?"

"He's just got a bit of a fever," Amy argued.

"And the so-called siren knows that," Mac mused quietly, before sighing, "I need to go get the TARDIS," she determined, "It's the only way to get us all out of here and get whatever happened to the Doctor reversed and help Toby with his cough," she glanced at Avery, "Would that be an agreeable plan captain?"

Before Avery could even speak there was a gasp from the side as Toby had pulled a lid off a barrel of water and the siren's hand reached out from it. Avery leapt over and slammed the barrel shut, "The water's dangerous!" he shouted at his son, "That's how she gets through. One touch of her hand and you're a dead man!"

"We're all cursed if we stay aboard!" the second in command remarked.

"Oh enough with cursed talk," Mac huffed, getting up, the Doctor letting out a disappointed groan as she did so, though he only pushed himself to sit against the barrels instead of get up to follow her as she made her way over to them. She gave the pirates a dirty look before she put her hand on Toby's shoulder, "Are you alright sweetie?" she asked him and he nodded, "Good," she smiled, brushing her hand through his hair, before turning to the boy's father again, "If we can get our ship here, we can end the 'curse,'" she rolled her eyes at that, "Captain?"

Avery nodded, "Aye, we make for the ship."

"I can bring it right here," Mac shook her head, "Just a small…taskforce ought to do it, one or two men with me to get it and we don't have to risk the others. Risk Toby," she added, when she saw him moving to argue.

Avery sighed, "Fine, you and I will get the ship and bring it here."

Mac nodded and turned to head back to Amy, Rory, and the Doctor while Avery spoke to Toby and his crew. She crouched down before the Doctor, "I'm going to go get the TARDIS," she told him, "I won't be a minute."

"Ok," he nodded, standing up with a grin, "Let's go."

"No," she moved in front of him as he tried to follow her, her hands resting on his chest, "You stay here, with Amy and Rory."

He pouted, "But I want to be with you."

She smiled at that, while she wasn't entirely sure if that was the siren-effect talking or the Doctor, he did seem a bit more with-it than before, but still she couldn't be sure, "I know, and as sweet as that is, Amy and Rory need your help too. They need you to be here to protect them, don't they?"

"Oh, yeah," Amy said as Rory started nodding, both of them knowing that there was little that could happen in the room if they kept the water barrel closed, but went with it anyway, "Yes. Of course we do."

"I'd like to see these companions last a bit longer Doctor," Mac added, "So you stay here, ok?"

The Doctor let out a long sigh, "Hurry back?" he asked, taking her hand, playing with her fingers one last time, "I miss you when you're not here."

Mac stepped closer to him and touched his cheek, "I miss you too," she told him, leaning in to kiss his cheek…

Only for the Doctor to turn his head quickly and catch her lips, lifting his hand to hold her there just a second longer, making it a true kiss and not a peck, "Sorry," he whispered when he pulled away, "Just needed that."

Mac swallowed hard, feeling her hearts catch at the move, and nodded, before turning to the Ponds, "Watch out for him?"

Rory nodded, "You can count on us."

"Thanks," she smiled, turning to head out with Avery, the two of them stepping out into the darkened hall.

"D'you want to draw lots for who's in charge, then?" the man whispered to her.

"You're the captain," she patted his shoulder, smirking, "After you. Just…be careful."

Avery sighed and nodded, turning to slowly head on into the ship.

~8~

Mac used her necklace key to get into the TARDIS, heading right for the console, needing to get the box back as fast as she could so that she could make sure the Doctor and Toby were ok and get the Ponds and Avery's crew out safely. Avery, on the other hand, stopped just inside the doors and stared around in awe at the much bigger room that was stored inside the small blue box, "By all the..."

"Please don't say…"

"It's bigger on the inside!" Avery cried.

"That," Mac sighed, glancing over as the man headed for the console and started looking at all the various objects on it.

"What's this do?" he pointed at one of the levers.

"That's the emergency brake," Mac remarked, "Like the weigh anchor."

Avery nodded, and looked at a small ball with spikes on it, "Wheel?"

"Atom accelerator."

"It steers the thing?"

"In a way," she nodded, getting distracted by the commands she was putting into the console for another environment scan, more into the ocean where the siren appeared from to see what might be in there, if there was anything in there.

"Wheel," Avery looked at it, before pointing around the console, "Telescope. Astrolabe. Compass…"

"Well done."

"A ship's a ship."

"Right," Mac muttered, "Ok, let's get the TARDIS back to the magazine," she reached out and twisted knobs, pushed buttons, and pulled a lever…when the TARDIS started grinding, "Oh, what are you doing that for!?" she looked at the rotor, before sighing, "She's not responding."

"Becalmed?" Avery smirked.

"At the moment, yes," Mac nodded, missing the gloating look on the man's eyes as she crouched down and examined the wires to make sure everything was holding. She really would have to replace the gum wrappers, string, paperclips, and gum she'd used to try and get the console to work when the Doctor would break it with actual wires and tubing. She stood and moved over to the monitor, cancelling the scan to look for something else, "That's why," she realized, "The TARDIS can't get a lock on the plane."

"The what?" Avery blinked.

"The ocean that she sails in," Mac offered by way of explanation, in terms he'd be able to understand given his profession and time period, "She can't tell where the water is so she's not moving…like if she hit a sandbank and low tide came in."

Avery nodded, understanding, "Do we wait for the tide then?"

Mac winced as the TARDIS started to rumble and rushed to the controls, trying her best to work them only for them to start sparking and going up in flames as the box began to shake in a way she knew was NOT dematerialization, "The parametric engines have jammed. Orthogonal vector's gone," she reached out to try and hit a switch to shut the box down, but the box jolted, nearly sending her to the ground, "I can't shut her down and, unless you want to disappear with her, we need to get out now!"

"Abandon ship?" Avery called.

"Yes, go!" she pushed him on, towards the doors as the console exploded. They ran out them just in time to see the TARDIS disappear in a green light, very similar to the siren's, "Just…fantastic," Mac grumbled.

"We need to go back," Avery determined, "Regroup and find another plan."

Mac sighed but nodded, the two of them turning to head back to the magazine…only for one of Avery's crew to run out before them, two guns drawn, treasure strapped all around him, a crown around his arm.

"Mulligan?!" Avery demanded, "What are you doing? This is mutiny!"

"She doesn't want me," Mulligan held up the pistol, slowly making his way around them, keeping them back with the gun, "She only wants Toby and the floppy-haired fellow," before he turned and ran off.

"He's got my treasure!" Avery shouted, rushing after him.

"Avery!" Mac ran after him, trying to stop it, it was treasure! It was just gold and coin and nothing at all as important as the life of his son and he was more focused on chasing after his crewmate instead of checking n his son?! Still, she reached out and pulled him down as Mulligan turned and fired at them, not about to leave Toby a complete orphan.

Mulligan ran into the hold, locking a door he'd dashed through, but it didn't stop Avery from running for it and pounding on it, "Come out of there you mutinous dog!" he spun around to Mac, "You!" he pointed at her, "Pick the lock!"

"No," she shook her head.

"As captain of this ship I order you to…"

"You are NOT my captain, and I am NOT your crew, right now I am thinking of my crew and your son!" she snapped, "Look at you! You're chasing after a silly crown when your son's life is at stake! That is…" she cut herself off when she saw a green light through the bottom of the door, the siren's song starting to play. She glanced at herself, just wanting to make sure she wasn't the one injured, Avery doing the same.

"She's come for Mulligan," Avery realized a moment before Mulligan screamed.

This time Mac DID run forward and pick the lock as quickly as she could, the two of them rushing in…to see Mulligan was gone and the siren was nowhere to be seen.

Avery grinned and picked up the crown as it laid on the floor.

"There's no water here," Mac realized, frowning, "How'd she get in…" she breathed, glancing at Avery to see him shining the crown with the arm of his jacket and closed her eyes, "I'm turning into the Doctor," she muttered, "It wasn't the water," she warned him, snatching the crown from his hand.

"But she sprang from it," Avery shook his head, trying to grab the crown back.

Mac just held it up, "She sprang from calm waters, still waters…" she pointed at the crown, "Reflective waters."

Avery's eyes widened, "So... You mean?"

Mac nodded, "You claim the sire attacks ships filled with treasure, of course she would, it's full of gold and reflection! All sorts of polished metals and…"

Avery reached for his neck, for a pendant she could recall seeing him wearing…only to realize he'd given it to his son and bolt out of the room, Mac rushing after him, leaving the crown behind, not about to risk it letting the siren into the magazine.

"Amy!" she shouted as they reached the door to the magazine, "Rory, open the door!"

"Toby!" Avery cried, shoving the door open from their end, pushing his way in as soon as whatever was barricading the doors had been removed. He ran over to Toby and pulled the pendant from him, shoving it into his pocket and breathing a sigh of relief.

"Doctor!" Mac gasped, moving over to where he was lying on the ground, Amy's pirate coat folded up into a little pillow under his head, "What happened?" she looked at Amy and Rory when she saw he was unconscious.

"We had to do it," Amy told her grimly.

"Was he trying to escape or…"

"No."

"Did the siren make it in?"

"Not quite," Rory remarked.

"Then what?"

"He wouldn't shut up," Amy reached out and put her hands on Mac's shoulders, "I'm sorry, but if I had to listen to his limericks about your hair being like a sunrise or your lips like the petals of roses or your eyes being like reflective pools in a forest I was going to kill him."

Mac blinked, a little surprised the Doctor had continued to talk about her after she'd left…but then Amy's words caught up to her, "Reflection!" she gasped and turned, running out of the room and into the captain's cabin, the only place on the ship that had windows and pulled the curtains, closing them and keeping the reflective glasses from being visible to the room.

She let out a breath and looked over at Avery as he rushed in after her, "We need to get rid of every reflection," she moved over to a mirror, taking it off the wall and draping a coat that was lying on a hook over it, wrapping it up and putting it to the side, "All the gold and silver, anything shiny, get rid of. Help me get this out of here," she moved to a small chest of treasure.

Avery rushed to help pick up the other end, "Where are we taking it?"

"The top deck so we can chuck the lot of it into the ocean."

Avery immediately let go of his end, nearly dropping the chest on her foot, "No. No! This is the treasure of the Mogul of India."

"And the greatest treasure of your life is hiding in the magazine," she shot him a glare, "Pick which one you want more, the gold or your son!" she shook her head at him, "Any single reflection and the siren will get him and he will die. So be a dear, be a man, and go to the storeroom, get the grown, and toss it into the ocean. Now!" she added when he just stood there.

She huffed, blowing her sidebang out of her eye as he turned to leave, she probably should have asked him to help her get the chest to the top deck before she'd ordered him off, "Rory?" she called, "Could you help me?"

~8~

It was pure chaos only a short while later. Rory, Amy, and Toby, the only ones left as another of Avery's crew had run off after Mulligan but apparently been taken by the siren as Toby had nicked the man, weren't quite pleased to hear that they'd have to wait it out till the ship could move before they could get the TARDIS back. It would eventually home in on the Doctor as the pilot but couldn't do so until they were far enough away. Amy and Rory had gone for a rest in Avery's quarters, the man offering them his bed as he couldn't sleep. The Doctor had been unconscious through the telling of the new plan, and only woken up minutes ago. Mac had been sitting in the magazine, Toby asleep across from her while she sat against the wall, the Doctor's head on her lap, absently stroking his hair. He'd woken up to the sensation, smiled at her, opened his mouth to say something when the ship started to rock violently and Avery's voice shouted out for them to man the sails.

A storm had arrived, just what they needed.

Whatever it was, whether the clock to the head or the rest, the Doctor seemed more himself when he woke and Mac felt safe allowing him up on deck, especially with the storm making sure there would be no still waters for the siren to escape through. But it was hard, and dangerous, the wind was howling, the rain was pounding, the ship was rocking dangerously and they were all struggling. The Doctor had taken to help Avery with one sail, while Amy and Rory tried to man the other. Mac was at the wheel, doing her best to just try and keep the boat steady, while Toby rushed here and there trying to help, grabbing Avery's compass…and that was where it all went wrong.

When Toby moved his father's coat to get the compass out of it…and the crown rolled across the deck.

It didn't take even a second before the siren had flown out of the crown and landed before Toby, reaching out for the boy who reached back to her in a daze, ignoring the shouts of everyone around him to stop. The Doctor pressed his hands over his ears, trying to tone out the singing, before he ran for the siren, trying to kick the crown away from her, hoping he could get her away from Toby and himself before the music really started to get to him, knowing vaguely that he had been out of sorts for a good long while before. But just as he reached the crown to kick it away…the siren turned and touched him, disintegrating him along with Toby a second before the crown went flying overboard and landed in the ocean, causing the siren to disappear.

"Doctor!" Mac screamed the same time as Avery cried, "NO!" for the loss of Toby.

"Do you see!?" Mac demanded as she stormed over to Avery, the man on his knees, "Do you see what your greed has taken from you!? Your spot in the navy, your wife, your son! Was it worth it?" she grabbed him by the shoulders, "Was it!?"

"I'm sorry," Avery shook his head, "I'm so sorry…"

Mac narrowed her eyes at him before she pushed him away slightly, "He's not dead, neither of them are."

"But they exploded!" Rory called as he and Amy made their way towards them, ducking under the mast as it shifted towards them.

"If the Doctor died, I'd hear it," she tapped her head, "Time Lords are telepathic, I can sense his mind. He's still here, he's still alive. We just need to find out where the siren's taken them," she looked around, before she pulled out her pocket knife, "We need to let her take us."

"Are you mad?!" Avery demanded.

"She'll take us right to them," Amy agreed, holding out her hand.

Mac reached out and pricked Amy's finger with the knife, doing the same to Rory and herself before looking at Avery who sighed but held out his hand as well. The siren appeared nearly instantly, holding out her hand to them, singing, and touching them all, creating a blinding light that filled the air…

~8~

The small group of four winced as they slowly woke to find themselves lying on the floor of a dark spaceship looking area, "Where are we?" Amy groaned as Rory helped her up.

"Where we were," Mac remarked, "The deck of the ship," she nodded to the side where they could see the deck just before them through a large window.

"We're on a ghost ship," Avery gasped.

"No, it's more like we're stuck in a temporal rift. The ship is trapped in a small pocket of time that's tethered to our universe. It's why you could travel the ship and not run into it, but you could still travel between them, see," she tossed a small pen out of her pocket and through the window, it landing on the deck.

"Do you hear that?" Rory asked, listening and hearing a small, low beeping noise.

"The distress call?" Amy guessed.

"Probably," Mac nodded, "Come on," she turned and led the way up a set of stairs, through the only doors in the room and into the rest of the ship.

"There was a second ship here all the time," Amy shook her head at that, she never would have guessed it.

They paused, hearing the siren's song echoing to them from within, "With the siren onboard too," Rory remarked.

"This way," Mac led them to a larger set of doors, pushing a few buttons on the wall to open it…only for a dead body in a spacesuit to slump forward. It looked like a cross between a rat and beaver but with a fin sticking out of the top of its head, "It's dead," Mac looked at Avery as he pulled his gun, "Shooting it won't make it more dead," before she pushed her way past it and into the bridge to see a second similar alien dead at the controls.

"How long has this ship been marooned here?" Amy frowned.

"Long enough for the Captain to have run out of grog," Avery remarked.

"Ok but…if this is the captain," Rory began, gesturing at the sitting alien, before glancing around, "What's the siren?"

"Not sure," Mac shrugged, looking closer at the dead alien.

"Did she kill it?" Amy asked.

"I don't think so," Mac looked at a program running on the screen just in front of the alien, "The scans of the ship are picking up human bacteria. They caught a cold, much like the Indians of America and smallpox. They aren't immune to your diseases," she grimaced a bit at a bit of slime on the controls, boogies. Disgusting, "But see here…" she pointed to a set of blinking dots on the scan, "It's picked up lifesigns, more so…HUMAN life signs…and one other, which must be the Doctor. This way," she turned and rushed out of the room, leading them down a hall and into a rather large, white, sterile-smelling room.

There were beds extended from the ceiling, dangling there with men lying on it, sans shirts and shoes, wires around their chests, with a breathing tube attached around their throats.

"McGrath!" Avery pointed, recognizing one, "He's one of my men."

Amy stepped over to check on him as Rory got distracted by a stack of small boxes just in front of him, "He's still breathing."

"My entire crew is here. Toby!" Avery ran over to his son.

"Doctor!" Mac gasped, spotting him and hurrying to his side.

"We have to get them out of here!" Avery shouted.

"I'd wait a moment," Rory moved over to Mac with one of the boxes, a sample box of sorts with a round sort of yellow spot in the middle of it, "Is this what I think it is, a tissue sample?" he held the box up to her.

"Yeah," she nodded, frowning at it.

"But why get samples of people you are about to kill?" Amy shook her head.

Mac's frown deepened at the sample, when they heard the siren song start and looked at the doors, half expecting the woman to be there already.

"What do we do?" Rory looked at her, "Do we hide?"

"No," Mac shook her head, "I know what she is."

"A siren," Amy stated, "Isn't she?"

"No, the music, how it's affecting people?" she looked at Amy and Rory, "Rory, how the Doctor was acting, all loopy and dazed, what would YOU think he'd been administered?"

"Anesthetic," Rory said instantly, the first thing that came to mind.

"That's what it is, the music is her version of anesthetic. She anaesthetizes people and puts their bodies in stasis," she gestured at the others, "All of this, the anesthetic, tissue sample, screen, sterile working conditions. This is the medbay and she…" she looked over as the siren appeared in the room, "Is the ship's doctor."

The siren paused as it touched the ground, looking at the four new people in the space before walking forward to check on her patients.

"See," Mac nodded at how methodically the siren was checking on the men, "It's all automated. With the original crew dead the sickbay broadened the scope of its parameters and looked after the nearest life forms, the humans. And since it's automated, it's broadcasting itself onto Avery's ship. This," she held up the sample, "It's protean circuitry. It lets her change her form to handle her patients, to be seen as human for her human patients. It's why the anesthetic wasn't affecting the Doctor the same way, she was set for human, the majority of her patients and not Time Lord."

"Will she let us take them though?" Avery called, standing at Toby's side, "If she's a doctor, can't we sign them out."

"You can," Mac nodded, "You're Toby's son, and you're the captain of your crew, their lives are in your hands."

"But…how are we going to get the DOCTOR out of here?" Amy frowned and looked at Mac, "If she's set for human, she won't recognize the TARDIS as a ship or him as the captain. He can't exactly check himself out anyway."

Mac blinked at that, turning to look down at the Doctor as he laid there, his shirt off, his expression so peaceful as he slept, and realized…they were right. There was no way to get him out of there without him being awake and sickbays like that weren't allowed to give the patients the authorization to sign themselves out. There was no one there that could possibly sign for him except…

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as it hit her.

If it had been Amy or Rory who was there, the other could sign out for them as they were the other's spouse.

She swallowed hard and opened her eyes, looking at the Doctor, her feelings warring inside of her. It was meant to be a choice, a very important choice that took serious consideration, was done with the greatest solemnity…not a last ditch effort to get someone out of a hospital. But…if she didn't…he wouldn't be allowed to leave. The siren had already proven the ship could prevent the TARDIS from functioning correction, she had no idea what would happen if she attempted to get the TARDIS back there to save the Doctor. She couldn't risk leaving him there. And if she tried to sneak him out or get him out of there the sickbay would retaliate and force her out or harm them or something, anything, to keep her patients safe.

"Doctor?" she whispered, gently stroking his face to wake him up, "Doctor, it's me…I need you to wake up."

The Doctor slowly blinked awake, looking up at her with a soft smile coming to his face, "Hello."

"Hi," she smiled at him.

He frowned, glancing around as much as he could without moving his neck, "Where am I?"

"The automated sickbay of a ship," she offered, "The siren is the medical program."

"Ooh," he nearly nodded, "Don't see that every day."

"No," she smiled.

But he frowned, seeing something else in her expression, "What is it?"

She swallowed hard and took a breath, "The sickbay requires consent to allow patients to be removed."

The Doctor blinked, "But there's no one to give consent for me…"

"There could be," she said quietly.

He stared at her a long moment, wondering if she was saying what he thought she was, "No," he tried to shake his head, "No, you can't."

"If I don't then you're stuck here forever."

"Kenzie, that's not some sort of decision you make just for a hospital bust."

"It's not a hospital bust, it's keeping you with me," she cut in, correcting him, her cheeks starting to flush, "It's keeping you alive and keeping you at my side," she added softly.

The Doctor looked at her sadly, seeing that there would be no convincing her to change her mind, "I didn't even get the chance to finish really wooing you," he murmured.

She smiled a little at that, "You still can," she told him, "I…may still need quite a bit of wooing after this," she admitted.

"After what?" Amy cut in quietly, "What are you talking about?"

Mac looked at them, "The only way the siren will let us take him…is if I was his 'spouse' or whatever they recognize as it in our culture."

"What, you're going to organize a wedding right here, right now?" Rory gaped at them.

"No," Mac let out a breath, "On Gallifrey, there's only two things that have to be done to be considered each other's Chosen, um…like a spouse I suppose just without the whole formal ceremony and marriage bit."

"And what's that?" Amy shook her head.

Mac looked at the Doctor, "You don't have to do this," he told her quietly, "Please…if this is something you'll regret…I couldn't bear that."

She smiled at his consideration, "Woo me," she repeated, "And make me not regret it."

His lip quirked slightly as he saw her smiling, saw her actually arguing FOR this to happen. But…in his hearts he was afraid. If this didn't work…if…if the siren didn't recognize this for what it was it would mean one of two things. That Mac would have tied herself to him for no reason and be stuck with him…or Mac didn't truly reciprocate his feelings for her…and that would break his hearts.

"_I love you Theta, my Chosen,_" she said in Gallifreyan.

He felt his breath catch in his throat at that, having imagined it so many times, from every single incarnation of her that he knew of, "_And I love you, Naery, my Chosen._"

She leaned down and kissed him gently, giving him a little bit longer of a kiss than normal, knowing how much this particular one meant to him.

It was such a simple ceremony really, to become someone's Chosen, all you needed to do was declare your love for them as your Chosen and have them reciprocate. That was really all it took to be legally considered a Chosen on Gallifrey. They could only hope that the same could be said if it took place off Gallifrey.

When Mac pulled away she looked up to see that the siren was standing right there, tilting her head at Mac. A moment later the program held out its hand, a golden ring of light appearing around it. Mac reached out and put her hand on the projection's…

Consent accepted.

~8~

The Doctor stood at the console an hour later, looking at the pregnancy scan he was running on Amy, still flashing positive/negative, and turned the monitor off, glancing over at Mac as she sat on the jump seat. They'd gotten all that business with the siren cleared up, Avery taking over the ship with his crew, becoming space pirates, just so Toby, who had a rather bad disease, could survive and live healthy with the siren caring for him. Amy and Rory were just fine, heading off to bed, and that left him and Mac alone.

"I'm sorry," he called, moving around the console to lean on it across from her, "That you were forced to do that, just to get me out of the hospital."

Mac looked at him, "Maybe it's for the best," she said, though he could tell she was trying to convince herself of it, "We were going to be Chosens at one point, everyone and their brother of our enemies and allies seems to think we already were Chosens or would be Chosens. Who are we to argue?"

"The first in line," he offered, before moving to crouch before her, taking her hands, "Naery…I won't hold you to it," he told her, "We…we may officially be Chosens now, but…I won't hold you to anything like that if you don't want to be mine…"

"I'm not sure what I feel," she admitted, "It's a…BIG thing to decide and…maybe, one day I would, but I…" she took a breath, "I think I need time," she told him, "To work out what I feel and what I feel for you and how I feel about what just happened."

"I understand," he nodded.

"I'm sorry Theta."

"No, no," he shook his head, "I get it, I REALLY do."

"But…" she squeezed his hands, "I know something that may cheer you up."

"And what's that?"

"You can use the time to woo me and try to help me decide faster."

He grinned, "Challenge accepted."

Mac let out a soft laugh at that and leaned in to kiss his cheek before she got up and headed for the halls, the Doctor watching her go.

He took a breath, he would be a liar to admit he wasn't slightly hurt that she wasn't sure entirely how she felt about him, given she'd just made herself his Chosen. But he understood why she'd done it, to save him. Still…he would have liked it to be because she loved him, though he knew they could do it again, later, when (not if) she loved him like that, they could have another go at 'declaring' themselves to each other and it would mean…so much more.

He blinked though when a thought hit him, a thought that brought a true smile to his face.

The siren had accepted their declarations and status as Chosens. That meant that they were recognized as Chosens…and in order for that to happen…the love declared had to be reciprocated…and that meant, in some way, no matter how small it might be…

Mac loved him.

He could work with that.

A/N: Sorry about the delay, family came over for the holiday and I didn't get a chance to edit yesterday :( I've been awake since about 6:30am getting this and Merlin edited to post ;)

I'm also SO sorry we didn't get to see any loopy Rory, but I couldn't do it, I couldn't kill him again lol. I think I needed to write one story where Rory didn't drown. And I did mention there would be a bit of backwards and out of order to the Doctor and Mac's relationship. This sort of forced her hand in declaring him her Chosen, but the Doctor won't hold her to it till she's ready to say she's his Chosen instead of being forced to do it to get him out of the Siren's hold ;)

Officially...the fact that the Siren accepted it, means that they are now Chosens, and it means that Mac does reciprocate the Doctor's love...it just doesn't seem to click with her yet...so that means much more wooing in store ;) I think you can love at different levels and in different amounts. She loves him enough to be declared his Chosen, but we don't know how much she'll come to love him in the future ;)

I sort of see the Doctor's not being under the Siren's spell completely as a result of it being so tuned to humans that it wasn't expecting a Time Lord ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Lol, that's ok :) I know a lot of people have different favorites for the TLs, I love that :) Since it would be a crossover with my Draconian Prophecies, Morgana would already be on the path of good so she wouldn't fall at all ;)

I'm definitely leaning more towards Angel because of the Vortex for the DW/Merlin one-shot :)

I've got a note up on my profile (have actually had it there since I put the pause on the spinoffs lol), the spinoffs will officially be picked up again in May :) I graduate then and will have more time to put towards writing them, and, by May we may even get a spinoff for Mac too ;)

I think even if there was a baby conceived outside of the TARDIS, just being in it would affect it like with radiation yup. The Doctor was more scanning because if Amy WAS pregnant he would NOT let her travel with him and have brought her to Earth because of the 'radiation' theory for humans :) But seeing the positive/negative he has no idea what's going on lol :)

I can't say wht River is just yet, we'll find out within a week :) Thanks, I fixed the mistake :) The River from TIA/DOTM was (to me) a past River than the one we see at the parties in Bad/Good Night, so she doesn't know that she's about to meet them again. She's thinking of it from her timeline and, since the Bad/Good Night River hasn't been involved in anything that they'd be blamed for, Mac and the Doctor are assuming River's talking about a past not a future River :) Oh Mac will definitely comment on the Gangers and Amy yup :) She'll be trying to make up for how she treated the Doctor in defending him and his Ganger ;)


	6. The Doctor's Wife

The Doctor's Wife

Mac was sitting in the hanging harness under the console, checking on the wires that were hanging from under the console, listening to the Doctor talking to Amy and Rory, describing one of their past adventures. She glanced up through the glass floor, knowing it was safe to do so, Amy seemed to have taken a liking to wearing trousers lately so she didn't have to worry about any 'thermo-coupling dropping' experiences.

"Then we discovered it wasn't the robot king after all," the Doctor finished up, "It was the real one."

"Lucky for you I had duct tape, pliers, and a pencil with me Doctor," Mac called up to him.

He grinned and pointed down at her, "Yes, Kenzie did a wonderful job reattaching the head."

Rory scoffed and looked at Amy as she stepped down the stairs towards him, "Do you believe any of this stuff?"

"I was there," Amy deadpanned, moving over to the railing, Rory moving beside her to speak to her quietly.

Mac frowned when the wire in her had gave a small spark, "Doctor?" she glanced up, "Are the warning lights going off?"

The Doctor moved over to the console and checked, "Yes, yes they are," he nodded and Mac started to make her way up to him to check, "I should get rid of those, they never stop!"

"They never stop because you break quite a lot of things that should set off warnings in your head Doctor," Mac remarked, moving to the monitor to check what was wrong with the TARDIS…

Only for a knocking noise to ring out from the doors, making them all turn to look at them.

"What was that?" Amy asked, blinking at the doors.

"I believe that would be called a knock," Mac stated dryly, "What one tends to do when they're seeking entrance."

"But we are in deep space," Rory shook his head at them as the Doctor began to move closer to the doors.

"Very, very deep," the Doctor agreed as the knock went off again, "And somebody's knocking," he slowly opened the doors, "Kenzie…" he called and she rushed over to see what had captivated him so. Just outside the doors was a small cube, glowing with white light, just hovering there.

"Can't be…" Mac breathed, staring at it in shock.

"It is," the Doctor nodded, reaching out for it, "Oh, come here. Come here, you scrumptious little beauty!" he tried to grab it but it flew past him, into the TARDIS, zooming this way and that around the room, causing Amy and Rory to duck out of the way…till it crashed right into the Doctor's chest, taking him down and toppling to the floor in the process. Mac quickly moved over to the cube and snatched it up before it could start flying again.

"A box?!" Rory frowned, not quite seeing the significance of the box or understanding why the Doctor and Mac were staring at it with such awe and trepidation.

"Doctor, what is it?" Amy called as the man scrambled to his feet to look at it, "Mac?"

"We've got mail!" the Doctor cheered, hugging Mac tightly and spinning her around before taking her hand and rushing back to the console to get to work tracing the box and its last known coordinates, the origin of where it had been sent from.

"Um, sorry," Mac shook her head, looking at the humans seeing the Doctor was FAR too excited to get a coherent thought out for them to explain, "This is a Time Lord emergency messaging system," she held up the cube, "Basically it's a container for our thoughts that allows us to send psychic messages if we're in danger."

"And that means there's a Time Lord out there!" the Doctor popped up, "And it's one of the good ones!"

"You said there were no other Time Lords left," Rory reminded them.

"There are no Time Lords left in the universe," the Doctor corrected, "But the universe isn't where we're going!" he rushed over, turning the box around so they could see the etching he'd spotted on the other side of the cube, an image of a snake eating itself, "See that snake? The mark of the Corsair."

"He's a good friend of ours," Mac added, "Always had to have that tattoo no matter what body he regenerated into, helped him be identifiable. He tended to change…everything about him. EVERYTHING," she gave them a pointed look.

"Ooh, she was a bad girl," the Doctor chuckled, making the humans' eyes widen at the thought that they could turn into different genders as well.

"Doctor be careful!" Mac shouted as the console started to spark, the box shaking as he narrowed down the coordinates.

"What's happening?!" Rory and Amy quickly latched onto the console for support.

"We're leaving the universe!" the Doctor grinned.

"How can you leave the universe?" Amy shook her head, shouting above the din.

"With enormous difficulty!"

"We're going to have to burn up more rooms," Mac told him from her side of the console, "We need more power!"

The Doctor nodded and got to it, "Goodbye, swimming pool. Goodbye scullery. Sayonara, squash court seven!"

"Almost there," Mac called from the monitor seeing them approaching what appeared to be a small planet that was vaguely glowing with a green light before the image went to static the console sparked again, a small flame going up beside her, causing her to pull away.

The TARDIS landed moments later with a thump, the humans waiting a moment to ensure everything was calm before letting out a breath, "Ok," Amy nodded, "Ok. Where are we?"

"Outside the universe," the Doctor started to grin, "Where we've never, ever been!" he turned to Mac and scooped her into his arms, spinning her around, "I love going places I've never been before with you," he grinned at her, leaning in to nuzzle his nose to hers, before letting her down, "Oh this'll be so much fun!"

Mac closed her eyes as the power started to wind down, leaving them in darkness, "Oh Doctor…" she muttered, that was just his luck.

"Is that meant to be happening?" Rory looked at the Time Lords, concerned, wondering if it was an effect of using so much power to get there.

"Not at all," Mac looked up at the rotor before moving to the monitor, "The power's draining externally…"

"But that's impossible," the Doctor moved over to her, trying a control, but it didn't work, "It's as if the matrix, the soul of the TARDIS, has just vanished. Where would it go?"

"Well wherever it is, the source of the drain was coming from out there," she looked at the doors.

"Well then," he smiled, taking her hand again, "Let's go take a peek," he winked at her, "No environment scans this time," he cheered, tugging her on as she rolled her eyes.

They stepped out of the doors and onto a planet that looked more like a junkyard than anything. There was clutter and rubbish scattered all around them, surrounded by the debris from various spaceships and other odds and end.

"I love this!" Mac squealed and rushed forward, looking around at as many piles of rubbish as she could, searching for interesting bits and pieces that she could use later to help with making things. The Doctor just smiled and crossed his arms as he watched her flitter about.

He would have to think of a trip to take after this one, something special just for Mac. She was doing well, considering they'd been a bit forced into declaring each other Chosens. He was doing his best to try and be sweeter to her, closer to her, really showing her that she hadn't made a mistake in naming him her Chosen. While also trying to maybe help her realize that she already loved him, she had to have for the Choosing to be accepted by the siren, but still…he was trying to make her as comfortable as he could with the new situation.

"So what kind of trouble's your friend in?" Amy glanced at the Doctor.

"He was in a bind, a bit of a pickle, sort of distressed…" the man rambled off.

"He's got no idea Amy," Mac called, moving over to them with a pile of items in her arms, starting to sift through them, examining it piece by piece and pocketing some while tossing others aside.

"Well what is this?" Rory looked around, "The scrap yard at the end of the universe?"

"Not end of, outside of," the Doctor corrected.

"How we can we be outside the universe? The universe is everything."

The Doctor draped his arm around Mac's shoulders as he began to explain it to Rory as they walked farther into the junkyard, "Imagine a great big soap bubble with one of those tiny little bubbles on the outside."

"Ok…"

"That's a horrible comparison," Mac looked at the Doctor," It's not like that at all."

"Thanks," Rory rolled his eyes at the less than helpful response from the Doctor.

"It's more like when you drop something and it shatters," Mac offered, "There's a huge clump in the middle, but there's always tiny bits at the edge, tiny bits you might not ever even notice. THAT's where we are, the extra bits left over."

"Right," Rory nodded, getting it.

"This place is full of rift energy," the Doctor soniced the area, "The TARDIS'll probably refuel just by being here. Now this place, what do we think, eh?" he looked at Mac, reaching out to pick her up by the waist, and set her down again, as though testing her weight, "Gravity's almost earth-normal, air's breathable, but it smells like..."

"Armpits," Amy called from where she was examining some rubbish of her own.

"Armpits," the Doctor pointed at her.

"Where did this stuff come from?" Rory frowned at it all. It was all so odd and mixed that they knew it couldn't have come from the same place or planet.

"I dunno," Mac shrugged, "But wherever it all came from, I'm glad it's here. This is a gold mine!"

The Doctor chuckled at her enthusiasm, "There's probably a rift somewhere near…"

"Well there'd have to be for us to get here," Mac mused.

"I suppose stuff just gets sucked through it," he shrugged, "Not a bubble, a plughole. The universe has a plughole and we've fallen down it."

"Thief!" someone started to shout in the distance, "Thief! You're my thief!" they looked over to see a woman with big bran hair in a sort of blue Victorian gown running for them, pointing at the Doctor as an older man and woman chased her.

"She's dangerous!" the woman called in warning, "Guard yourselves!"

"Look at you!" the woman half ran into the Doctor, grabbing his arms for support, "Goodbye! No, not goodbye, what's the other one?" before she pulled him closer and kissed him hard.

"Oi!" Mac cried, "Get off of him!"

"Watch out!" the older man tugged Mac back, keeping her from pulling the woman off of the Doctor, "Careful, keep back from her!" he leaned forward, the two of them managing to yank the woman away.

"Oh yes, that's right isn't it?" the mad woman remarked, "You're her Chosen now aren't you?" she looked at the Doctor, startling him with the knowledge, before rounding on Mac, "And you're just a big…big…what's the word for not nice?" she looked at Amy and Rory.

"Um…mean?" Rory suggested.

"Meanie!" the woman pointed at Mac, "You're just a big meanie to my thief!" she took a step as though she were about to lunge at Mac, only for the two people to pull her back, the Doctor quickly moving to stand in front of Mac for protection, fearing the woman might really attack her.

"Welcome, strangers, lovely," the man struggled to hold the woman back, "Sorry about the mad person."

"Why am I a thief?" the Doctor frowned, "What have I stolen? And how is Kenzie being mean to me? She's actually very, very quite nice to me."

"She will be mean to you," the woman stated, before blinking, "Or is it the other one, what's the other one? Not will but…"

"…was?" Amy shook her head, really starting to get confused now.

"Yes, that's it, she was mean to you wasn't she thief?" the woman turned to the Doctor, "She was very, very mean. She made you cry! And said such awful things."

"How could you possibly know about that?" the Doctor gaped at her, Mac starting to frown as the woman seemed to rather dislike her.

"Because you're my thief," she said simply, "You're going to steal me. No, you have stolen me. You are stealing me. Tenses are difficult, aren't they?"

"Oh, we are sorry, my doves," the older woman panted, "She's off her head. They call me Auntie," she stepped forward and shook the Doctor's hand and then Mac's.

"I'm Uncle," the older man did the same, "I'm everybody's uncle. Just keep back from this one, she bites!"

"Do I?" the woman spun around, "Excellent!" and tried to lunge for Mac, only for the Doctor to pull her back.

"Oi!" he cried, "No biting my Chosen!"

The woman pouted at that and crossed her arms petulantly.

"Sorry," Uncle tried to tug her back, "She's doolally."

"No, I'm not doolally," the woman defended, "I'm... I'm...It's on the tip of my tongue!" her eyes widened and an excited grin spread on her face, "I've just had a new idea about kissing," she spun to the Doctor, "Come here, you!"

"No kissing my Chosen!" Mac mimicked, tugging the Doctor back and away from the woman as she lunged at him.

"Idris, no, no!" Auntie pulled her back.

"Oh, but now you're angry," the woman, Idris, looked at the Doctor, "No, you're not. You will be angry. But…you are angry…you don't want anyone but her to kiss you," she nodded at Mac, "But that's not it is it? No…the little boxes will make you angry too."

"Sorry?" the Doctor shook his head, "The little what? Boxes?"

Idris started laughing, reaching out to touch his chin, "Your chin is hilarious!"

Auntie sighed, "Idris, I think you should have a rest…"

"Yes, yes, good idea!" Idris nodded, "I'll just see if there's an off switch," before she pitched forward, nearly falling to the ground had Rory not leapt forward to grab her in time, slowly lowering her into a nearby wheelbarrow, the Doctor moving to sonic her and see if she was ok.

"Is that it?" Uncle blinked, "She dead now. So sad."

Mac glanced back at him, "For being 'everyone's uncle,' you don't sound sorry at all."

The man just shrugged as Rory reported, "She's still breathing."

"Nephew," Uncle turned to the side, speaking to a figure that was slowly approaching, "Take Idris somewhere she cannot bite people."

"Doctor…" Mac called and he turned to see an Ood with glowing green eyes had joined them.

"Oh, hello!" the Doctor greeted cheerily.

Amy gasped and jumped at the sight of it, "What is that?!"

"It's called an Ood," Mac moved over to the humans as the Doctor approached the alien.

"Ood are good, love an Ood," the Doctor muttered, eyeing it, "Hello, Ood," but it just blinked at him, "Can't you talk?" he looked at the orb in the Ood's hand as it held it up, "Oh, I see, it's damaged. May I?" the Ood nodded, holding the orb out to him and he cracked it open with the sonic, starting to poke and fiddle with it, "It might be on the wrong frequency."

"Nephew was broken when he came here," Auntie told them conversationally, "Why, he was half dead. House repaired him. House repaired all of us."

Mac frowned at that, "How do you 'repair' a human?" that word, that phrase didn't seem right.

The Doctor closed the lid of the orb and a message began to broadcast around them, various voices, men and women all calling out for help, one voice more prominent over the others…the Corsair's, "If you are receiving this message, please help me. Send a signal to the High Council of the Time Lords on Gallifrey. Help! I'm still alive! I don't know where I am. I'm on some rock-like planet…"

"What was that?" Rory asked as the Ood turned the orb off, "Was that him?"

"One of it was," Mac nodded, "But the others…"

"That's not possible," the Doctor agreed, spinning to face Auntie and Uncle, "Who else is here? Tell me. Show me! Show me!"

Auntie nearly jumped back at the shouting, "Just what you see. It's just the four of us, and the House. Nephew, will you take Idris somewhere safe where she can't hurt nobody?" she turned to the Ood who picked Idris up and walked off.

"You keep mentioning a 'House,'" Mac eyed her, "What exactly is that?"

"House is all around you, my sweets," Auntie gestured at the land, "You are standing on him," she pointed down as Uncle hopped in place, "This is the House. This world. Would you like to meet him?"

"Meet him?" Rory blinked.

Mac quickly made the 'stop talking' motion at Rory this time, "Yes, we would."

Uncle grinned, "This way," he turned to lead them on, "Come, please. Come."

Amy looked between the Doctor and Mac, seeing that they were both very quiet and solemn at the moment, the Doctor reaching out to take Mac's hand, holding it tightly, "What's wrong?" she stepped over to them, "What were those voices?"

"Time Lords," the Doctor answered, "It's not just the Corsair. Somewhere close by there are lots and lots of...Time Lords," he looked at Mac, squeezing her hand again, seeing that where he was hopeful, she was more cautious. He quickly lifted her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it before they walked on, hand in hand, the Ponds following.

~8~

The Doctor and Mac slowly followed Auntie and Uncle into a sort of cavernous room, grating all over the floor with the same eerie green glow shining through it, "Come," Uncle urged them on, "Come, come. You can see the House and he can look at you and he..."

"I see," the Doctor mumbled as he and Mac peered through a grate, "This asteroid is sentient."

"We walk on his back," Auntie nodded, "Breathe his air. Eat his food..."

"Smell its armpits," Amy muttered under her breath…when Auntie and Uncle suddenly tilled, slumping slightly, their expressions going blank, their eyes vacant.

"And do my will," the two odd characters spoke in unison, though the voice speaking through them was certainly not their own, but a deeper male voice, "You are most welcome, travelers."

"That voice…" Amy stiffened, moving closer to Rory, "That's the asteroid talking?"

"Yes," Mac nodded, "It's just the way it communicates as it doesn't have a physical mouth," Mac reassured them.

"So you're like a...sea urchin," the Doctor guessed, starting to walk around the room, glancing at the grates, "Hard outer surface. That's the planet we're walking on. Big, squashy, oogly thing inside. That's you."

"That is correct, Time Lord," House replied.

"How do you know that's what we are?" Mac frowned.

"There have been many TARDISes on my back in days gone by," House told them, "I recognize your own, only a Time Lord can operate one. I heard you call one another your Chosens. I have heard this phrase once or twice before."

"So there are other Time Lords here?" the Doctor asked cautiously, trying not to sound too hopeful, not knowing if the asteroid could be trusted or not.

"Many travelers have come through the rift," House stated, "Like Auntie and Uncle and Nephew. I repair them when they break. The Time Lords come and go, they do not break so easily."

"That's us," Mac mumbled.

"Well, there won't be any more after us either," the Doctor sighed, "Last Time Lords. Last TARDIS."

"A pity," House remarked, "Your people were so kind."

"Must have been VERY long ago then," Mac mused.

"Perhaps," House agreed, "Be here in safety. Rest, feed, if you will."

"We're not actually going to stay here, are we?" Rory asked, eyeing Auntie and Uncle as they seemed to snap out of their trance.

"It seems like a friendly planet," the Doctor shrugged, "Literally."

"Do you mind if we look around a bit?" Mac turned to Auntie and Uncle.

"You can look all you want," Auntie smiled, urging them on, "Go, look. House loves you," she stepped before Amy, cupping her face in both hands, though all of them were painfully aware that Auntie's left arm was very, VERY different from her right, it didn't even look like a woman's arm really.

"Come on then, gang," the Doctor reached out and took Mac's hand, slowly tugging her back, starting to actually get rather a bit creeped out by Auntie's arm, "We're just going to, erm... see the sights," he offered Auntie and Uncle a smile before turning to lead them out into the tunnels, hearing small echoes bouncing off the walls.

"So as soon as the TARDIS is refueled, we go, yeah?" Rory looked at the Time Lords, hopeful.

"No," the Doctor shook his head, "There are Time Lords here. We heard them and they need us."

"I'm not so sure Doctor," Mac bit her lip, "House was rather specific that they'd left by now."

"But we wouldn't have heard them over the Ood translator," he pointed out.

"You told me about your people and you told me what you did," Amy agreed with Mac.

"Yes, but if they're like the Corsair, they're good, I can save them!"

"Then tell them you destroyed the others?!"

Mac looked at the Doctor as he flinched at that, "I can explain. Tell them why I had to."

"Doctor…" Mac began softly, touching his arm, "Some of them…they might react worse than I did. She told him, I KNOW you, I know how you are. They may not listen, they may not even think you did all you could. If they don't know you they may not forgive you."

"I have to try though," he looked at her.

She sighed, "Ok," she nodded.

"What do you need from us?" Amy asked, stepping up.

The Doctor patted his coat and frowned, "My screwdriver. I left it in the TARDIS. It's in my jacket."

"You're wearing your jacket," Rory pointed out as Mac frowned, he'd flashed Idris with his sonic just before but it seemed like Amy and Rory had either missed it in their concern for Idris or it had become such a common thing that they didn't notice when he DID use it.

"My other one."

"You have two of those?"

"I have 17 cardigans," Mac shrugged, "It's not so strange to have a second tweed coat."

"I'll get it," Amy held up her hands, stopping Rory from commenting, "But, Doctor, listen to me. Don't get emotional because that's when you make mistakes."

"Yes, boss," the Doctor saluted her with a grin.

"I'll call you from the TARDIS," she tossed him her mobile to keep in touch with, not knowing Martha's mobile number, "Rory, Mac, look after him."

"And who will look after you?" Mac called.

"Me, myself, and I!"

Mac shook her head and looked at the Doctor, "I'll go with her," she offered.

"Kenzie…" the Doctor frowned.

"We promised," she reminded him, "One of us with each companion at all times," it was something they'd made a long time ago, after they'd taken on Rory as a companion for the Doctor, that, if the companions ever split up, one of them should be with each, heighten their chances of survival and whatnot.

The Doctor sighed, not wanting her to go, knowing what he planned to do once Amy was in the TARDIS but…if this was about to go south, if this was about to get dangerous…it might be best to have Mac safe and in the TARDIS where she could pilot the box to go back and get them. Yes, that would be better, "Ok," he nodded.

Mac smiled and stepped up to him, moving to kiss his cheek, only for him to turn his head and steal a kiss from her instead. She shook her head at him and rushed off after Amy. She could understand that he wanted Amy and Rory in the TARDIS, to protect them, but if he ended up somewhere dangerous, she knew, as the Doctor had likely thought too, that she could take the TARDIS to come rescue him. They'd need someone in the TARDIS though that could pilot the box.

"I told you to look after him," Amy called as she noticed Mac catching up to her just as they reached the junkyard.

"And I'M the Time Lord of the two of us, I give the orders," Mac countered.

"You really think the Doctor can handle this?" Amy glanced back, knowing that the Doctor likely had no idea what he was doing.

Mac shrugged, "If he doesn't, he'll need an escape plan," she unlocked the TARDIS and stepped in with Amy, "And that would be us, in the TARDIS, to get him out of trouble."

Amy nodded, that did make sense, before she walked up to the console, picking up the phone, "We're here," she told the Doctor as he answered, "Screwdriver's in your jacket, yeah?"

Mac moved over to the console as well, to the controls, trying to see if she might be able to get some sort of power back to try and run a scan for the Time Lords. That should have come up before the power had cut, that there were other Time Lords there, but it hadn't. And she couldn't help but feel like…if there WERE Time Lords they would have sensed it. She hadn't felt a thing other than the Doctor being there. She had always been the more realistic of the two of them, even in her last body, she never had too far flung hopes, she'd always been more on the ground than he had. It had probably been made worse by their first courtship actually. That had been what she would call her farthest hope, that she and the Doctor could be Chosens and when it hadn't happened…it just made it harder for her to find much deep hope in anything. Hope for the best, expect the worst. That was usually how life was for her. After her marriage life just got more and more real. Her marriage to her husband, the loss of her child, her regeneration, the life she'd had after that, all the harsh realities of life had hit her. Whereas the Doctor had gotten children and adventure in his TARDIS, an escape. He'd even managed to avoid the war for quite a long time.

As a result, she'd always tried to look at the facts and look at how things most likely were. The scans picked up no Time Lords, she sensed no Time Lords, House had said that the Time Lords he'd met were 'kind' which meant that it was pre-war Time Lords, he hadn't met any since the war. The Doctor was hoping that they were still there, because of the translator, but she knew better, she could tell that there weren't Time Lords but…in the off chance she was wrong (or even if she was right and this was a trap) her being in the TARDIS meant that she could go and get the Doctor. If she had time to work, she could get the TARDIS power back. Even with the matrix drained, there was still POWER in there. It was more like…the conscious part of the TARDIS had been taken, the auto-pilot in a way, manually the TARDIS could still operate, she just had to get that working.

"Yeah," she looked up, hearing the Doctor on the phone, "It's around somewhere. Have a good look."

She turned, looking at the doors as they locked and sealed.

"Did you do that?" Amy turned to Mac as she hung up the phone.

"Yeah," she nodded, even though it technically hadn't been her, "I'm trying to get the TARDIS powered up again to materialize to where the Doctor is if he and Rory get into any trouble before we find what we came for," she offered, mostly the truth, "The doors have to be locked for materialization to start, just a precaution."

"Right," Amy nodded, "Where is that jacket…" she moved around the room, looking for the jacket while Mac focused on trying to manually get the power back.

~8~

"Can we go?" Amy asked Mac as she sat on the jump seat, staring at the ceiling, "The jacket isn't here, neither is the sonic, and the TARDIS hasn't powered up yet."

Mac though, was frowning at the controls, her hands braced on the console, looking at it with concentration, "This doesn't make sense…" she began.

"I agree," Amy looked at her, "We're still here and there's no sonic."

"Not that," Mac shook her head, "The matrix of the TARDIS was literally drained out," that had been bothering her, "But there's no reason to do that unless it was to be replaced with a different matrix and there are none. You could try to delete it…but that would blow a hole in the universe so it has to be pulled out instead. And it would need a place to go, you can't just pull a matrix out without a receptacle or it gets pulled back into the original TARDIS again…so it went somewhere, to a receptacle. And it has to be alive because the matrix is, for all intents and purposes, alive…" Mac trailed off a moment, "She knew we were Chosens, that I wasn't exactly nice to the Doctor…"

"Wait, you think that Idris woman is, what, the TARDIS?" Amy stared at her, "That's ridiculous."

"Not exactly," Mac murmured, hoping that it wasn't the case, a flesh body wasn't meant to hold the TARDIS like that, it would die quickly, "It could be done…but why? The TARDIS hasn't been taken over so the only thing left of it is the Artron Energy," she blinked, "The asteroid is alive…"

"Yeah, and?" Amy shook her head.

"If it's alive, it needs to eat," Mac turned to her, "House said there were TARDISes on him years ago, he never said anything about them leaving!"

"So…House eats TARDISes?" Amy blinked.

"It make sense," Mac nodded, "The rift energy is enough to feed a TARDIS, it must feed House too with so few TARDISes around anymore. But a TARDIS has more than just that, it's all processed and filtered…he had to have pulled the matrix out so that it wouldn't protect itself or shield itself, leave it vulnerable for the Artron energy to be drained…"

Amy slowly stood, catching sight of something through the doors, "What was that you said about the TARDIS not being taken over?"

Mac frowned at her before turning to follow her gaze, seeing Amy was looking at something over her shoulder…to see a green light shining through the door windows, swirling around the box.

"Out!" Mac called, pushing Amy on, "Get out! Go!"

They ran for the doors, just as they heard the Doctor and Rory shouting outside it, "Kenzie!" the Doctor called.

"Amy!" Rory was yelling,

"Get the hell out of there!"

"We're trying!" Mac called, but the doors weren't opening, they weren't unlocking.

"It's House. He's…"

"After the TARDIS," Mac cut in, "We know! The doors won't unlock!"

They looked back as the cloister bell started to ring, the room going even darker, "Doctor, I don't like this," Amy breathed.

"Open up!" Rory pounded on the door, trying to get the doors open as the Doctor's sonic could be heard through the doors.

"Open!" the Doctor cried as well…

Mac took Amy's arm and tugged her back as the green glow got brighter and the room started to shake. They backed up to the railings, holding on as the TARDIS took off.

"Mac?" Amy swallowed when it stilled slightly, "What's happening?"

"House took the TARDIS," Mac murmured.

"But…we're safe right?" she looked at Mac, "He hasn't eaten the TARDIS yet, has he? We're not dead are we? We're still here…"

"You're half right," House's voice began to speak over them as the room started to power up again, but with a sickening and eerie green glow, "I mean, you are still in the TARDIS. What a great adventure. I should have done this half a million years ago. So, Amy, Mackenzie, why shouldn't I just kill you now?"

"Because I'm still a Time Lord," Mac called, "And I know all the activation codes that could cause the TARDIS to explode. You try to kill us now…I regenerate and I activate them."

"You would not risk killing yourself or the human."

"Try me," Mac called, subtly grabbing Amy's arm to squeeze it, telling her she was bluffing, "If it keeps you from taking the TARDIS into our universe, I'll do anything to protect it."

She could understand now, the choice the Doctor had to make to save the Universe from the Time Lords. While this was just her and Amy's lives at stake, she knew that it was the same feeling he'd felt. Knowing that it had to be done, to save so many other people.

"Interesting," House mused.

"What is?" Amy tensed.

"Corridors. I have corridors. So much to learn about my new home."

"Is it just me or does he sound like the Doctor?" Amy whispered to Mac, House was rather absentminded, wasn't he?

"He's trying to distract us," Mac shook her head, "You won't kill us," she told the entity.

"I could kill your human," he remarked.

"You won't, because you're sadistic, you like seeing your playthings afraid," she continued, squeezing Amy's arm again, knowing that if they were ever separated, there would be nothing but tempting House with entertainment to keep Amy alive. He could easily kill Amy and she wouldn't know it till it was too late. If they were separated, she needed to make sure House would keep her alive, "It entertains you, like Uncle and Auntie, you like watching them suffer and cower. You know I won't be afraid, this is a TARDIS, this is my home, there's nothing you could do to me here that would make me afraid, but her?" she scoffed, "You need her for entertainment."

"Perhaps," House hummed, "Entertain me then. Run!"

Mac wasted no time in grabbing Amy's hand and pulling her off, into the halls of the TARDIS, not about to risk leaving her to run on her own. They bolted down the corridors, Mac trying to think of a safer place that they could go where House might have a harder time threatening them…

"Are we having fun yet?" House called, "I'm rather enjoying the sensation of having you running around inside me," Mac quickly pulled Amy back before she could fall down a sort of shaft, where the lifts should have been, "I have turned off the corridor anti-ground, so do be careful."

"Thanks," Amy breathed, panting.

"Come on," Mac turned and hugged the wall, making her way around the ledge, guiding Amy after her to another corridor where they took off.

~8~

Mac and Amy ran down a corridor, Mac just slightly ahead of Amy to keep an eye out for any traps or other sudden pits. She knew the TARDIS, it was Gallifreyan, she could feel when House tried to shift the halls on her and knew when drops would be coming or when some safety mechanisms were about to be tripped. So she had taken the lead. She stopped suddenly though when she heard a swish behind her and spun around to see a wall had sprung up between her and Amy.

"Amy?" she called, moving to it, knocking on it, "Amy can you hear me?"

"Mac!" Amy shouted from the other side.

"Stay there," she told the girl, "Don't move and I'll find you."

"Ok," Amy agreed, though she heard a hesitancy she couldn't fault Amy for in her voice, "Just…hurry yeah?"

"On my way," she turned and ran around a corner, compensating as House tried to shift the halls on her and making her way back to Amy…

Only to stop again when she came across the Doctor, lying on the ground, the astronaut standing before him, its hand out and aimed at the Doctor. She faltered for only a second, more surprised to suddenly see that than anything else, "Nice try House," she called, "You can't fool me that easily, I can sense where there's a Time Lord around me," she warned, before striding forward, through the hologram that House had set and around a corner where she could see Amy sitting on the ground, next to the wall, "Amy!"

"Mac!" Amy gasped, jumping up, "You've been hours!"

"Only seconds for me," Mac told her, hugging her tightly, "House is altering the temporal frequencies and…"

"I don't really care," Amy cut in, "I'm just glad to see you again," she hugged her once more.

Mac nodded, "Ok, now, to make sure that doesn't happen again…"

Amy looked down, hearing a click, to see that Mac had just handcuffed them together, "Why do you have handcuffs?"

Mac shrugged, "Learned it from River," she remarked, "And, for my next trick…" she walked over to one of the walls, pulling a bit of thread from her pockets and tying it to the beam running up the wall, "That'll help us keep from retracing our steps," Mac smiled, turning to lead Amy off, "And, if the Doctor makes it in with Rory, they'll be able to follow the string to us."

"You're brilliant," Amy told her.

"Thanks," Mac laughed, "But it's just the tale of the minotaur."

Amy blinked, "Ariadne and Theseus? With the string and the labyrinth?"

"Got it in one," Mac nodded, "Come on," she led the way off, around another corner and down a corridor…as it started to get darker on them. Mac rolled her eyes at house and pulled her penlight from her pocket, helping them with light, "Here," she handed Amy a red glowstick to use.

They turned around another corner and Amy gasped, freezing as she saw RORY, but an older him, thin, gray, with a beard, his clothes torn with age, looking weak and feeble, curled up in a ball beside the wall, calling out to her, "Amy?" his voice raspy.

"Oh, my God!" Amy tried to run over to him, but Mac held her back by the handcuffs.

"Amy don't!"

"But it's Rory!" she tried to tug herself on.

"You left me," Rory moaned, hearing her, "How could you do that? How could you leave me?"

"How long has he been here?" Amy turned to Mac, tears in her eyes, looking almost accusingly, "How did he get in!?"

"2,000 years I waited for you," Rory banged his head on the wall, "Kept alive all that time, I waited and waited and waited!"

His voice had grown to a roar near the end, Amy looking at him in horror, fully knowing that the TARDIS could likely keep him alive for 2000 years but see him age only 50 or so, "I didn't mean to," Amy started to cry, "I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

"Amy, Amy look at me," Mac turned her so that she was staring at her and not Rory as he tried to get up, "It's not real."

"They come for me at night," Rory called, making Amy close her eyes, crying, as Mac covered her ears, "Every single night, they come for me and they hurt me. Amy, they hurt me over and over and over and over! How could you leave me? How could you do that to me?!"

"Amy eyes on me," Mac told Amy, giving her a small shake so she'd look at her, before she turned and tossed a small bouncy ball from her pocket…right through Rory, scattering the hologram, "It's not real," she turned to Amy, "It's just a hologram, it's House trying to get to you," she shifted her arm so she could hug Amy as best she could being handcuffed to her. She ran her hand down Amy's hair as the ginger human sobbed, "It's alright," she whispered, "It's alright sweetie, it'll be alright," she soothed Amy as she waited for the human to calm down before she pulled away slightly, "Are you ok now?" she asked and Amy nodded, "Ok, we just have to keep going," she told her quietly, "Here, fix your face," she held out a small compact to Amy.

Amy frowned but opened it, blinking when she saw the spare psychic paper stuck to the mirror portion, 'The Doctor's coming,' she saw the message on it as she moved to pretend to powder her nose, glancing at Mac a single second, questioningly, before turning back, 'It's not a junkyard, it's a TARDIS junkyard. They'll come for us.'

Mac took the compact back when Amy was finished, hugging her tightly, "We're their girls," she whispered to her, "They'll come."

Amy swallowed hard, "Come on," she turned to go on.

Mac nodded, walking with her, there was one room she had to get to. The junkyard, if she was right about House, which she now knew she was, it would be filled with spare TARDIS parts and if Idris really was the TARDIS, she'd be able to help the Doctor piece together a TARDIS. She was very disappointed that she couldn't be there to help him, she'd have LOVED the chance to build an actual TARDIS out of small parts, but she had to keep both her and Amy alive…and try to find some way to get back to the console room to take down the shields that automatically came up when the TARDIS matrixes were removed.

She just…had to work out a way to do it without House finding out.

~8~

Mac was below Amy as they climbed up a ladder, being that she was wearing a dress and Amy trousers, when she winced, gripping her head as a small zing hit it.

And she could see it…Idris blinking at her in her mind.

"Mac?" Amy looked down when Mac stopped climbing, "What's wrong?"

"Psychic message from Idris," Mac murmured, closing her eyes to focus more, seems the woman really was the TARDIS then, to be able to do that.

"Hello meanie!" Idris called, though her voice was a bit more cheery than the name she'd called her would have called for.

"What's going on?" she asked Idris.

Suddenly the Doctor appeared behind Idris, "Kenzie!" he cheered, "Are you and Amy ok?"

"We're fine," she told him, "Where's Rory?"

The image shifted to poor Rory pressed up against a sort of wall, his arms spread out, his eyes wide, screaming as the ship rocked before it turned back to Idris and the Doctor, "You have to go to the old control room," Idris told her, "I'm putting the route in your head. When you get there lower the shields."

Mac frowned at that, "You've archived the old rooms?"

"Yes! You'll have about 12 seconds before the room goes into phase with the invading Matrix. I'll send you the passkey when you get there. Good luck!"

Mac blinked as she opened her eyes, "Go!" she called up to Amy to get them moving again, "We need to go!"

~8~

Mac and Amy ran down a corridor, Mac leading the way as Amy had started to say that the lights were getting darker, when the lights were just fine for her. She stopped short though when she saw Nephew standing at the end of the corridor, now a dead end. She frowned, eying the Ood closely as it started to approach. Mac pulled out a small pen from her pocket and tossed it at him…the object bouncing off him and falling to the ground.

"Ok," she muttered, "NOT a hologram. Run!" she turned, leading Amy off, cutting the string she's been trailing at the same time so Nephew couldn't follow them easily, "Just keep running Amy, I've got you."

Amy nodded and flowed her, trusting her with the direction, "What happened?"

"It was Nephew."

"That Ood thing?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "He's in the TARDIS, really him, not a hologram."

"Great," Amy muttered, before blinking, "I…I think I can see again," she told her, "The lights are back for me."

"This way," Mac turned, pulling her down a corridor, up to a set of locked doors.

"What's behind there?"

"The old console room," Mac told her, "The TARDIS can changed the console room as easily as the Doctor and I can change our faces when we regenerate."

"So why aren't we going in?"

"Just…waiting for the passkey," Mac muttered, wincing when, moments later Idris appeared in her mind again, muttering four words, "Crimson. Eleven. Delight. Petrichor."

"Petrichor?"

"Um, the smell of dust after rain," Mac looked up at the doors, "The TARDIS interface is telepathic, so I just have think it…" she closed her eyes once more, focusing on the words, "Keep a look out for Nephew Amy," she called.

Amy nodded and turned to face back the way they'd cone, "It's coming," she whispered, seeing Nephew appear at the end of the hall.

Mac took a breath, "Crimson…" she murmured, imagining the Wasteland of the Crimson Heart, the red of the planet where the Shansheeth had trapped her and the Doctor, "Eleven," she smiled, thinking of the Doctor, the 11th incarnation of 'the Doctor,' "Delight," her breath left her when she thought of their first kiss after she realized he'd been flirting with her, their Christmas kiss, "Petrichor," that was a little different, it wasn't quite dust and it wasn't quite rain…

It was the lake, Lake Silencio, and it was her, kneeling on the sands after the Doctor had died, a tear falling to the sand…

But the image was enough and the doors flew open.

She and Amy ran in, Amy unable to stop and really admire the room as the handcuffs forced her on, it was a wide, coral-themed room, with large Y-shaped beams around, a ramp leading up to the console that was a bit more round and sophisticated looking than the console she was used to.

"What is this place?" Amy breathed.

"The last console room," Mac said, "Shields!" she cried, spotting a small purple object she needed, and got them down, "There!"

The shields went down only moments before the faint green glow began to replace the gentle light blue light of the rotor, House had arrived.

"How did you find this place?" House wondered, "It's not on my internal schematics. I had hoped you two could join Nephew as my servants. But you two are nothing but trouble," they looked over as the doors opened and Nephew entered, "Nephew...kill them."

Mac winced, seeing Idris in her mind once more, distracting her from trying to stop Nephew, "We're coming through," Idris warned, "Get out of the way or you'll be atomized."

"Where are you landing?" she asked the woman.

"I don't know."

"Oh that helps," she muttered, opening her eyes, "Get back," Mac tugged Amy back, over to a Y-beam as a wheezing started to fill the room, stopping Nephew. The two of them watched as a small console unit, more like a corner of two walls with a small make-shift console in the middle appeared on the ramp.

"Rory!" Amy cheered, rushing to Rory, actually tugging Mac on with her by the handcuff.

Mac laughed and unlocked her arm from Amy's, turning to hug the Doctor as he snuck up behind her, "Doctor," she breathed, clutching him tightly as he hugged her in return, "You're ok," she whispered, her hearts beating a little faster to be in his arms.

"Course I'm ok," he murmured back, swaying just slightly, "I'm…"

"The King of ok?" she joked.

"Standing with you in my arms actually," he pulled away slightly, touching her face, "Makes me just wonderful."

"I'm not," Idris groaned, trying to get up but not quite managing it. The Doctor moved over to help her, Mac helping her as well, "Not good. Not good at all," they helped her to sit down for a moment, "How do you walk around in these things?"

"We're not quite there yet..." the Doctor told her, "Just hold on," he looked at Mac to see her nodding, already understanding what was happening to Idris, well she would, she knew what it would be like for a TARDIS matrix to be in a flesh body, "Amy," he turned to her, "This is..."

"The TARDIS," Amy said.

He blinked and pouted, "Did Kenzie spoil the surprise?"

"Sorry Doctor," Mac patted him on the shoulder, "I was more thinking out loud and Amy heard me."

"Hello," Idris moved to stand, Mac helping her, making the woman give her a small odd look before she smiled, "I'm...Sexy."

"Shut up," he pointed at Amy warningly.

"Sexy is she?" Mac asked, more amused.

He turned his warning finger on her, but smiled, "No one holds a candle to you dear," he winked at her.

"The Environment has been breached," House called out, interrupting their moment, "Nephew, kill them all."

"Nephew was here?" Rory stepped closer to Amy, glad he could be closer to his wife again.

He'd been a worried wreck the entire time. The moment they realized House had gotten control of the TARDIS, he'd been frantic to get his wife back…the only thing that was keeping him focused and bale to help the doctor and Idris build a TARDIS was the fact that the Doctor was equally out of sorts to get Mac back too. The fact the Doctor was worried about her and desperate to get back…he knew they WOULD get back to the girls. And the fact that Mac was with Amy meant that Amy was safe. He'd seen how Mac stuck to him or Amy when they had to split up, to help protect them. It was the reason she'd gone with Amy in the first place, to offer more protection, he knew she'd do all she could to keep Amy safe.

It was just…a matter of getting back to them.

"He was standing right where you materialized," Amy looked around for it.

"Which means they landed on him," Mac told her, "So he's been redistributed."

"He's what?"

"You're breathing him," the Doctor remarked.

"Eugh!" Amy grimaced, trying to cover her nose and mouth.

"Another Ood I failed to save."

"Doctor, I did not expect you," House called.

"Well, that's me all over, isn't it? Lovely old unexpected me."

"The big question is, now you're here, how to dispose of you all? I could play with gravity..." they all fell to the ground, the gravity pushing down on them until House eased up, Idris unfortunately remaining on the ground, Mac and Rory moving over to help her, "Or I could evacuate the air from this room and watch you choke…"

The Doctor grasped as his neck as the others began to gag, trying to breath as the air was sucked out, "You really don't want to do that!"

House stopped, returning the air, "Why shouldn't I just kill you now? I asked the girl, she gave me rather interesting answers. I wonder what yours shall be."

"Because then I won't be able to help you!" the Doctor panted.

"Interesting," House remarked, "The other one threatened to blow this ship up, yet you are willing to see it continue."

"Yeah well, Kenzie's got a bit of a mean streak to her," he winked at her, letting her know he was joking, "Listen to your engines. Just listen to them. You don't have the thrust and you know it. I'm your only hope for getting out of your little bubble, through the rift, and into my universe. And mine's the one with the food in," he reached out and took Mac's hand, "You just have to promise not to kill us. That's all, just promise."

Mac looked down though, hearing Idris mumbling something under her breath, saying 'water' over and over.

"You can't be serious," Amy gaped at the Doctor.

"I'm very serious. I'm sure it's an entity of its word."

"Doctor, she's burning up," Rory told them, a hand on Idris's forehead.

"She's asking for water," Mac added as he turned to kneel beside them, looking at Idris.

"Hey," he smiled at the woman, "Hang in there, old girl. Not long now. It'll be over soon."

"I always liked it when you call me... old girl," Idris breathed, her eyes rolling to look at Mac, "I'm sorry I called you meanie," she squeezed Mac's hand, "You're quite nice. You…take care of my thief and his strays."

Mac smiled, squeezing her hand back, "I try my best," she told the woman, glancing at the Doctor, "We all have things in our past we're not proud of."

"You want me to give my word?" House called, "Easy. I promise."

"Fine," the Doctor took a breath, turning to stand, "Ok. I trust you. Just delete, ooh, 30% of the TARDIS rooms, you'll free up thrust enough to make it through. Activate sub-routine Sigma-9."

"Why would you tell me this?"

"Because we want to get back to our universe as badly as you do. And I'm nice."

"Yes," House mused, "I can delete rooms, and I can also rid myself of vermin if I delete this room first. Thank you, Doctor, very helpful. Goodbye, Time Lords. Goodbye, little humans. Goodbye, Idris."

Mac squeezed the Doctor's hand as a bright light filled the room, all five of them materializing right out…

~8~

…and into the main console room.

"Sorry House," Mac smirked, standing up, "But there's failsafe upon failsafe built into TARDISes to protect its passengers and pilots. Anything with a pulse that's deleted are brought back to the main room."

"Yes," the Doctor chuckled, draping his arm around Mac's shoulders, "Thanks for the lift!"

"We are in your Universe now," House countered, not at all perturbed, "Why should it matter to me in which room you die? I can kill you just as easily here as anywhere. Fear me. I've killed hundreds of Time Lords."

"Fear ME," the Doctor corrected, "I've killed all of them."

"Still," Mac shrugged, "With all the different rooms and vents and controls, I'm sure you COULD kill us all in quite a few ways. But there's one thing that you seem to have forgotten," she shook her head at him, "You've been spending too much time around humans, Auntie and Uncle weren't exactly the brightest of the lot were they? Slowed you down quite a bit."

"I have forgotten nothing," House stated.

"Alright, then you've missed it then," the Doctor remarked.

"And what would that be?"

"Not only have you defeated us, me, my Chosen, and our lovely friends here, but you've also defeated the TARDIS Matrix herself! A living consciousness you ripped out of this very control room and locked up into a human body and look at her!"

"She's stopped breathing," Rory looked at them, alarmed as Idris laid before him, not moving.

"Enough," House huffed, "That is enough."

"It's FAR from it," Mac narrowed her eyes at him, "You shoved a TARDIS matrix into a flesh body because you knew it would kill her outside this room. Do you see her now? Do you see where she is?"

"You think I should mourn her?" House scoffed.

"No, I want to see how long before you realize that you let her back into the very room you wanted her out of."

The Doctor smirked seeing a golden light flowing out of Idris as she gave her last breath, "You took her from her home. But now she's back in the box again and she's free!" he threw out his arms as the energy swirled around them, seeping into every facet of it, causing the green light of House to fade to the golden one of the Vortex.

"No!" House tried to fight back, "Stop this! OW! Stop this now!"

"Oh, look at my girl, look at her go! Bigger on the inside! You see, House?"

"Make it stop!"

"That's your problem. Size of a planet, but inside you're just so small!"

"Make it stop!"

"Not a chance," Mac glared at the last lingering hints of the green light.

"Finish him off, girl," the Doctor ordered and the golden glow got brighter. House groaned and screamed as the TARDIS took herself back, the golden light blazing, burning the green out entirely before it slowly faded back to a calm, dark setting.

The Doctor let out a breath and turned to hug Mac tightly…when they heard a voice whisper, "Doctor?"

They looked over to see that, while Idris's body was gone, there was a hologram of some sort, what seemed to be made of golden light, standing on the stairs, facing them, "Are you there?It's so very dark in here."

Mac squeezed the Doctor's hand and moved to step back, to let him speak to the TARDIS one last time, but he held firm to her hand and tugged her with him, "I'm here," he whispered.

"I've been looking for a word. A big, complicated word, but so sad. I've found it now."

"What word?"

"Alive," Idris smiled, "I'm alive!"

"Alive isn't sad," the Doctor told her, squeezing Mac's hand, glancing at her quickly, "Not anymore."

Mac's eyes widened at that, hearing the meaning behind his words. She couldn't imagine what it was like for him, to live after the war, to know what he'd done and to think himself the last of their kind, to go on living after that. She could imagine that it was hard for him, that it hurt him deeply, that he felt worse being alive because he had to live with what he'd done. She knew he had survivor's guilt from the reports she'd read of him. To have him say that being alive wasn't a sad thing for him anymore…she felt her hearts tug at that and to lean over and kiss his cheek, making him smile.

She liked to think she might be a small reason why he was happy to be alive now.

Idris smiled at that, she hadn't gotten a chance to get to know the new Mac while on the planet. Oh she knew the woman from the console and travels with the Doctor. She'd been very upset at first, with the woman, for all the things she said and did to the Doctor when she'd been her last self. But she saw how happy she made him now and that meant the world to her, that her thief was happy, even if his Chosen had been a bit of a meanie to him at first.

"It's sad when it's over," she explained, "I'll always be here. But this is when we talked and now even that has come to an end. There's something I didn't get to say to you."

"Goodbye?" he swallowed hard.

"No," she shook her head, "I just wanted to say... hello. Hello, Doctor. It's so very, very nice to meet you."

"Please," the Doctor sniffled, clutching Mac's hand like a lifeline, "I don't want you to go."

Idris just gave him one more smile before letting her head fall back as the light around her grew brighter, "I love you both…" she whispered to them, disappearing in a flash of light, leaving them in darkness.

Mac quickly turned and held the Doctor to her as he cried for the loss of the TARDIS.

~8~

The Doctor was sitting in the hanging harness this time, blackened goggles on his eyes as he fiddled with the wires hanging around him, Mac sitting on the steps down under the console, looking at him, sorting through the odds and ends she'd taken from the junkyard as Amy and Rory watched from above.

"How's it going under there?" Rory asked.

"He's putting a firewall around the matrix," Mac explained to them, "Trying to keep another incident like this from happening."

"Almost done too," the Doctor nodded as Rory headed down the stairs to stand beside Mac.

"Are you going to make her talk again?" Amy called through the glass floor, kneeling on the ground to watch the Doctor.

"Can't."

"Why not?" Rory frowned.

"Spacey-wacey, isn't it?" Amy guessed.

"Well actually," the Doctor began, "It's because the Time Lords discovered that if you take an eleventh-dimensional matrix and fold it into a mechanical then..." he winced as Rory touched two wires together, making them spark, and whipped his blackened goggles off, "Yes it's spacey-wacey!" he snapped at Rory for startling him.

"Sorry," Rory murmured.

"The wire's broken Rory," Mac got up and walked over to him, looking at the pieces he'd touched together, "Joining them like that would create excess electricity that isn't being conducted, hence the spark. Here…" she reached into her pocket, pulling out a stick of gum and unwrapping it. She handed Rory the gum while she kept the wrapper, smiling as she turned and wrapped the metal foil around the two wire ends, "There, perfect."

Amy shook her head, "And I thought it was _the Doctor_ who kept this place together with gum and bits of string."

"Oi, I'm working on it," Mac smiled, "It's just a temporary thing."

Amy gave her a look that said she didn't believe that at all.

Rory was quiet for a moment, "At the end, she was talking," he told them, "She kept repeating something. I don't know what it meant."

"What did she say?" the Doctor stood up to look at more wires, knowing he was referring to Idris.

"'The only water in the forest is the river,'" he shook his head, "She said we'd need to know that someday. It doesn't make sense, does it?"

"Neither did the bit about the little boxes," Mac remarked, thinking on how they'd shared stories about what their experiences were like, how the Doctor had found a number of little boxes, emergency boxes with their messages, what the translator had picked up on, and how he'd realized it was THEM and not the actual Time Lords there, it made him angry, "At first. Maybe that line will make sense one day. But that's not exactly what I'm worried about."

Rory frowned and looked at her, "What are you worried about?"

"You," she nudged him, "Are you alright sweetie?" she hugged him.

Rory smiled a little, "No," he admitted, hugging her back, "I watched her _die_," he breathed, pulling away a little, "I shouldn't let it get to me, but it still does. I'm a nurse."

"And I'm a Doctor," the Doctor added as Amy came down to join them, sitting on the ground, "Could use a bit of a hug myself," he gave Mac a sly look till she smiled and moved over to hug him to, the Doctor smiling as he got to hold her a little longer. He took a deep breath and pulled away, winding his arm around her waist as he glanced at Rory, "Letting it get to you, you know what that's called? Being alive. Best thing there is. Being alive right now," he winked at Mac for that, "That's all that counts," he leaned in and gave her a kiss to her temple, before he stepped back and sat back down on the harness, "Nearly finished. Two more minutes, if Kenzie helps me," he smiled at her and she moved over to a few more wires to help him, "Then we're off. The Eye of Orion's restful, if you like restful."

"So not the Eye then," Mac smirked at him.

He shrugged, "I can never really get the hang of restful," he admitted, before looking up, "What do you think, dear? Where shall we take the kids this time?"

"Look at you," Amy laughed, "It's always you and her, isn't it? Long after the rest of us have gone. A boy and his box, off to see the universe."

"Ahh…" he held up a finger, "A boy, his Chosen, and THEIR box," he cast a look back at Mac, seeing her smile softly at that. He knew she regretted not being able to get to know Idris, all she knew was that the woman was the TARDIS. But he also knew that she wanted that for him. The box had been his for so long, and his alone that he knew she would have wanted him to be able to spend time with the box alone and get to know the thing that had kept him alive and protected him. For centuries it had been just him and the box, it meant more to him to meet the consciousness of the TARDIS and he knew Mac wouldn't have wanted to take away from that by being there.

Still, he'd have loved for the box to get to know her as more than just the 'meanie.' Oh Idris knew that Mac had changed, it had been her first reaction to seeing Mac to think about the first her that had travelled in the box, but she'd warmed up to the idea of Mac in the end and had accepted her as his Chosen, which meant the world to him.

Mac shook her head at that and looked at Amy and Rory, "I was running scans to make sure House didn't damage anything…it seems he deleted a few rooms to try and get rid of us, all the bedrooms among them. I can make you two a new one though."

"That'd be great," Amy smiled, "Maybe this time we'll get one without bunk beds," she gave the Doctor a pointed look.

"Bunk beds are cool!" he defended, "A bed with a ladder! You can't beat that."

Mac rolled her eyes at that, she knew it was his way of trying to keep the Ponds from doing any deeds while in the TARDIS, for fear of the conception or even the effects it might have on a child as it grew in Amy. She knew that the second Amy was pregnant and they knew it, the Doctor would take her back to Earth. They truly didn't know what sort of effect that the 'background radiation' would have on a child in the womb and during conception and they were NOT going to risk it with their companions. Luckily though, Amy wasn't pregnant as far as she knew, "It's your room," Mac shrugged, "And we trust you, don't we Doctor?" she gave him a look.

The Doctor rolled his eyes this time, "Up those stairs," he waved them off, "Keep walking till you find it. Off you pop!"

"Doctor," Rory paused as he and Amy got up to leave, "Do you and Mac have a room?"

"We have rooms yes," Mac nodded, clearing her throat as the Doctor blushed. He hadn't quite…brought that up to her yet, the idea of sharing a bedroom. And, given how she was shifting and biting her lip and how the Doctor was blushing and avoiding her looks, they weren't ready to share a room just yet.

Amy seemed to sense that and quickly tugged Rory off with her, leaving the Time Lords to their own devices.

~8~

The Doctor was working at the console, cleaning it as Mac checked the final scans of the box to make sure everything was in as proper order as it could be, both of them trying not to catch the other's gaze, Rory's question about rooms still ringing in their ears.

The Doctor placed a rag he was using down and looked around, "Are you there?" he looked up at the rotor, Mac glancing over at him for a moment, "Can you hear me?" but there was silence, "I'm a silly old Doctor," he sighed, shaking his head, he shouldn't have expected anything.

"Yes you are," Mac nodded, moving around the console to him and kissing his cheek, "But it's all a part of your charm," she smiled, moving on.

"Ok," he smiled, "The Eye of Orion, or wherever we need to go."

They both looked over when one of the levers moved on its own, staring at it as it started the materialization process, making the Doctor whoop and laugh before running around the console with a cheer.

"I'll go get the picnic basket!" he cheered, knowing there was really only one thing to do in the Eye it was that peaceful and he needed SOMETHING to do before going completely mad. He turned and dashed off through the door and into the halls…

Mac laughed moments later when his voice called out, "Why's there string everywhere?"

A/N: I want to apologize for no chapter yesterday :( Holidays and family kept me away from the computer and left me with about 1 hour total the last 2 days to get on till late last night :( I had no time to edit the chapters on Saturday and didn't feel comfortable posting them on Sunday. I had to wait till family left last night to be able to edit the chapters for today lol. To make up for it though, we'll be getting 2(!) chapters of this story today :) So check back in about 6-7 hours where we'll get another chapter up ;)

I was so, SO torn about what to do with Mac in this chapter, whether to have her with Idris or with Amy/Rory, and I felt like I'd already done the TL with the Doctor and, since this one didn't really have the deep connection to the TARDIS as the others, that it would make more sense for it to be a moment that the Doctor would need to have himself, and Mac's already set a precedence for being with the companion more so I wanted to shake things up and put her in the TARDIS :) I also feel like Idris would have been a bit mean to her, but the Doctor would have defended her and it would have been sort of moot lol.

Happy (belated) Holidays to everyone though!

Some notes on reviews...

Lol, merry Christmas :) I can't say whether Mac will the the Planner or not, we'll have to wait and see ;)

I'm glad the Chosen ceremony surprised you :) It was definitely meant to come across a bit forced, the Doctor just has no luck with his plans going right lol :)

I used to have links to transcript sites on my profile but it slowed down the loading of my page so I have a few notes up throughout that I've moved it to my tumblr. If you check my tumblr's 'Transcripts' page I have the links to the sites I used for DW (and all my other stories). For an OC, I would say that having a set character in mind with a personality and history that explains the personality helps them sort of write themselves, because you get to see why they act the way they do and they'd act that way because of their history. Like they couldn't act another way because that's not them, so it helps picture them in a scene and how they'd react :) Hope that helps and I wish you the best of luck on your story :)

I'm glad your operation went well :) I hope you get out of the hospital soon :) I'm glad you liked the chapters ^-^ I hope you had a happy Easter too! :)

I had a note up on my tumblr about why I didn't update (I try to post notices there if a chapter will be late or not posted), I had family over for the holidays and, between that and hosting and cooking and family drama, I had next to no time to go on the computer to edit the chapters till they left last night :( To make up for that I'll be posting 2 chapters today :)


	7. Good Night

Good Night

"Be careful with that Doctor," Mac whispered as she followed him down the stairs of the TARDIS, the man tossing a euphonium in his hands. She had a small tambourine, something simple that didn't really require much finger work. She might be used to computers but trying to get her fingers to make music didn't seem to work out for her.

The Doctor just spun around and tossed her the euphonium instead, winking at her before he dashed to the doors, leaving her to head to the console to put the instruments down, "River!" he called, ignoring Mac's hissing 'shh!' behind him, "We'll see you later! Tell Marilyn she's too late, she'll have to use the biplane. Take care!" he closed the doors and headed up to the console, completely missing Amy sitting on the steps, watching him in her nightie and dressing gown.

"Do you do this every night?" she asked him, making him jump.

"Oh!" he gasped, turning to see her sitting there, "Hello."

"Not every night Amy," Mac remarked, "We just got a few calls from River and thought we'd check it out."

She wouldn't add that they were always going to check on River when they got a call for help on the psychic paper. Given what happened the first time they got one, they didn't want to leave River in that sort of danger, not ever. They'd flubbed being able to help her then, they could make up for it now…even if they didn't know what she was to them or what she would forgive them for. The Rivers that they'd met at the party and just now at a small orchestra event, were future Rivers, Rivers that the one they'd taken to America wouldn't know about. They understood that whatever it was that they'd meet River again for, that she'd not blame them for something happening, was a past version of her, not a future one.

Ooh time travel, it was enough to give anyone a migraine.

"You're trying to conceal euphonium guiltily," Amy looked at the Doctor as he tried to step in front of the instruments resting on the jump seat, "Has that ever been attempted before?"

"It has now," Mac laughed.

"What?" the Doctor blinked, before realizing that he was blocking the instruments, "Oh this, oh yeah, it's just one of those um…euphoniums."

"Ok," Amy sighed, "So is THIS what you do at night when we're sleeping? Have extra adventures?" she eyed them in their outfits, both of them very much in the same formal attire as the last time.

"We don't sleep as much as you. I keep busy."

"And I keep him out of trouble," Mac added, moving over to his side, smiling at him.

"What kind of trouble?" Amy eyed them, "What are you doing? Actually tell me for once. You're my friends, my best friends, so tell me what it is you do."

The Doctor looked at Mac for a moment before nodding at Amy, "Ok, we just helped out a possessed orchestra on a moon base, I got to lead a lovely little number that I wrote for Kenzie," he grinned at her lovingly, making her blush, it really had been the most wonderful song she'd heard…and that was on top of the Doctor making it, he hadn't exactly been the most musically inclined Time Lord out there, "Before that we prevented two supernovas, which I then named the stars 'Mac' and 'Kenzie,' wrote a history of the Universe all in jokes, tested them out on Kenzie first, if you can get HER to laugh it's GOT to be funny," Mac laughed at him for that, shaking her head, making him beam, he liked that HE was funny and could make her laugh, "Did a bit of local work in Brixton. Lovely practice, very short staffed, though Kenzie didn't really like that last one," he leaned in to whisper, "I was the only bloke there," he told he as though it were a secret, "I think she was rather jealous, which was quite amusing to see and…"

"Amy?" Mac cut in gently, seeing Amy look down, sad, "Are you alright?" she moved over to the girl to sit by her, "What's wrong sweetie?" she touched her back.

Amy sighed, "We're such tiny parts of your lives aren't we?" she looked at them as the Doctor came to sit on the steps before her as well, "All the friends you make just flicker in and out. You must hardly notice us."

"Amy you are _enormous_ parts of my life," he told her, patting her knee.

"Of BOTH our lives," Mac agreed.

"And you are all we ever remember."

"Speaking of which," Amy hesitated, looking between them, "My life doesn't make any sense."

Mac gave the Doctor a look for that one and he nodded, "I know."

"That's what I've been trying to talk to you about."

"We know," Mac patted her back.

"Like…when I first met you two I didn't have parents. I never had parents. And then you did…whatever it was you did, Doctor…and rebooted the Universe and, suddenly, I have parents. And I've always had parents. And I remember both lives in my head, both of them, in my head, at the same time."

"That's fine isn't it?" the Doctor frowned.

"But it shouldn't be. Why is it fine?"

"Because you're a special girl, Amelia," Mac told her, brushing her ginger hair out of her face and behind her ear, "That crack in your wall broadened the way you saw the universe. All the information it hollowed out of you just made your mind wider. It could fit more."

"Everyone's memory is a mess," the Doctor added, "Life is a mess. Everyone's got memories of a holiday they've couldn't have been on, a party they never went to, or met someone for the first time and felt like they've known them all their lives," he took Mac's hand at that, "Time is being rewritten all around us every day. People think their memories are bad, but their memories are fine. The past is _really_ like that."

Amy gave him an incredulous look for that, "That's ridiculous."

"Yes," Mac nodded, laughing, "It is."

"Ah but now you're starting to get it!" he cheered, taking Amy's hand and pulling her up, leading her over to the console, "Put your hand here," he put it on a lever.

"What is it?" Amy eyed the stick.

"That's the TARDIS telepathic circuits," Mac called, spotting it as she made her way over to the other side of the console.

"And what do I do?"

"Nothing," the Doctor smiled, "Just relax," he moved over to where Mac was at the monitor, gently winding an arm around her waist as he looked at the program she was running, "Your saddest ever memory was…"

"1994," Mac stated, "At a fairground," she smiled fondly at the information, "You dropped your poor old ice cream."

Amy blinked at her, "That _can't_ be my saddest memory."

"Remembering ice cream is always sad," the Doctor pouted, pulling another lever and landing the TARDIS with a thump.

"Did we just land? Where are we?"

"What happened after you dropped the ice cream?"

"Nothing, I cried," she said, before starting to blink, thinking on it, "No, no…hang on there was a lady…and she bought me another one."

"Do you remember what she looked like?" Mac smiled.

"She looked like she…" Amy started to look down, remembering that moment, "She had a funny dress, a night dress, she had red hair," but then she shook her head, "I don't understand," she looked up to see neither Mac nor the Doctor were ahead of her any longer and turned to see them at the doors, "Why are you doing this? What is the point?"

"The nice lady, what did she say to you?" the Doctor asked instead.

"Cheer up, have an ice cream," she deadpanned.

"Amy," Mac laughed, "Time and space are infinitely complicated, not even WE understand all of it," she gestured between her and the Doctor, "It took us centuries of learning about it to be where we are and there's always new things to discover every day. No offense, but a human won't be able to make sense of it like we do."

The Doctor nodded and pointed at her before looking at Amy, "A long time ago you got the best possible advice on how to deal with that. So! I suggest you go and give it!" he turned and pulled the doors open, the sounds of the fairground drifting up to Amy as she made her way over to them to see they really WERE at the fairground.

"Ok, ok, so I ask you a big important question about life and you're basically telling me to go and buy myself an ice cream?" she stared at the Doctor, not sure what she'd been expecting from him anyway.

"No Amy," he nudged her on, "I'm telling you to go and buy us all ice creams. I love fairgrounds."

"I hate you," Amy muttered as she headed off to do that.

"No, you don't!" he called after her, "Ooh look a Ghost Train!" he pointed to the side as he and Mac stepped out, "Do you get scared on ghost trains? I get a bit scared so is it ok if I hold your hand?"

Mac laughed, "You're holding it right now, aren't you?"

He looked down to see that, indeed he was, and just squeezed her hand again.

"Doctor…" Mac began, "There's something I'VE been meaning to ask you about as well."

"What?" he looked at her.

"Do you remember when you mentioned that you imagined the two of us getting married?" she eyed him, "That you imagined marrying me on your actual wedding day?"

"Yes…" he said slowly.

"Was that true or…"

"Um," he swallowed hard, "Yeah, it was."

"You were really thinking of ME when you were marrying her?" she stared at him.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, "It was the only way I could bring myself to do it," he nodded, "It was um…the only way I could bring myself to do a lot of things with my wife, um, other things…family things…"

She blinked at that before she felt a little warmth start in her stomach at that, he'd not just imagined her on his wedding day it seemed, but the night as well, likely a few other nights given he had children, "It was the same for me," she admitted, "At first, I was angry at you yeah, but…I did still love you," she sighed, "I think…I think it wasn't till I lost the baby that I stopped, I didn't have a need to do it, there was no point to pretend I was happy or try for another child. And, when I stopped doing that, I suppose I just stopped feeling love for you then."

"Right," he nodded, looking down at that.

She smiled and reached out to touch his face, turning him to look at her, "I said THEN, Doctor," she emphasized, making him blink this time and start to smile. She leaned in to kiss his cheek, but he turned his face to steal a peck from her lips, "I'm starting to like that," she admitted, how he stole kisses from her.

"Good," he whispered back to her.

She looked at him and smiled softly, "You can hold my hand any time you want," she added.

"I plan to never let go of it," he winked at her, the two of them continuing on towards the Ghost Train, maybe he could get a little bit of a hug out of her or at least a cling if she got spooked on it.

Having her in his arms, what better reason did he need to go on a ride that would likely scare HIM as well?

A/N: Awww :) I'm very excited for the next few chapters ^-^

Some notes on reviews...

We'll have to see where Mac ends up in the Rebel Flesh ;)

Lol, no worries about the length, I love every length review :) And thanks! I'm really glad you're enjoying the stories so far ^-^

If you mean posting a Doctor/Romana story, I probably won't post one like that, I like OCs too much :) If you meant posting a Doctor/OC story that takes place when Romana's there, I do plan to do some AUs of the OC series that would start on Gallifrey so we might get some Classic episodes in them. I do want to try and write an OC series (like a magnum opus) of the entire Classic series one day, but I have yet to watch the Classic Series and it would take me about 2 years watching 1 episode a day to be able to get through it. I barely manage time to watch 1 episode of OUAT a week at the moment lol, so there's hope, but I can't say when/if it'll happen :)

I probably won't do the books of DW, I don't count them as canon for the most part. I might use one or two small things from them that come from a PROSE source in the stories, but nothing that would severely impact the canon of the show. I really just don't find the books to be entirely canon or agree with the show, from what I've seen of them, so I probably won't do book adventures :)


	8. The Rebel Flesh

The Rebel Flesh

Mac was leaning on the railing of the TARDIS, watching the Doctor more so than Amy and Rory having a darts game behind her, he was at the console again, frowning at the monitor. It was the same frown she'd caught him wearing a handful of times the last few months. She made her way over to him for it, if it was months now and he still had that frown on his face, whatever it was was something he hadn't resolved yet and perhaps she could help him, "What is it?" she asked, making him jump and automatically turn off the monitor, "Theta?" she gave him a suspicious look and crossed her arms.

"Nothing!" he said quickly, starting to fidget.

"You really are a rubbish liar," she shook her head at him, before walking over and flicking the monitor back on, the scan still running. She blinked, looked at him, and then turned back to the monitor, frowning as she saw he'd been running a pregnancy scan on Amy…and it was flashing positive/negative, "That's wrong…"

"Tell me about it," the Doctor sighed, "I have an idea of what might be causing it, we'll have to check quickly though because…"

"No," Mac shook her head, looking at him more alarmed than he knew she should feel at seeing a result like that, "No this is…VERY wrong."

He frowned at the urgency in her voice, "What is it?"

Mac glanced at Amy and back at him, "You remember I told you that I ran scans on Amy and Rory and River after America yes?" he nodded, "I scanned for everything, I wanted to check and make sure they hadn't been harmed without their knowledge."

"Yes…and…"

"Theta," she swallowed hard, "Amy wasn't pregnant then."

His eyes widened and looked at the scan in horror, "But if she wasn't pregnant then and it's reading that she might be now…" he felt ill at the implication of what that could mean. He had a guess of what was wrong with Amy, why it was saying she was but wasn't pregnant. But for it to say she was pregnant NOW when she hadn't been after America and the only time she was out of their sight was…

When the Silence took her.

He felt bile rise up inside him at the thought of all the terrible things this could mean, "Oh Amelia," he whispered, "What did they do to you?"

"How long have you been running this scan?" she looked at him.

"Months," he shook his head, "Nearly completely 9," he added.

Mac closed her eyes and took a breath before she looked at him, "We need to sort this out, NOW."

He nodded and quickly switched it off, turning to Amy and Rory, "Who wants fish 'n' chips?" he called to them and Rory immediately raised his hand.

"Brilliant," Mac smiled, "We'll drop you two off for a little date then."

"And you?" Rory frowned as they made their way to the console, "What about you two?"

"We'll have a date as well," the Doctor said quickly, "You know, you and Rory getting fish and chips, Kenzie and I getting…other foods, probably on another planet…maybe…"

"Well, why don't we double," Amy smiled, linking her arm with Rory's, "It'll be fun, we could go to an alien restaurant yeah? The four of us?"

The Doctor had just opened his mouth to say that he'd prefer to be alone with Mac when the TARDIS suddenly jerked, nearly sending them to the ground, the klaxon starting to go off. The Time Lords grabbed onto the console as Amy fell back onto the jump seat, Rory grabbing the railing for support.

"Solar Tsunami!" the Doctor called from the monitor, the screen back on, the scan off and another alert coming in, "Came directly from your sun. A tidal wave of radiation. Big, big, big!"

"Ohh," Rory moaned, "My tummy's going funny…"

"Wonderful!" Mac muttered to herself, trying the controls, "The gyros have dissipated, the target-tracking's gone, and the buffers are…" she tried to pull a lever but only sparks shot out of the console.

"Assume the position!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing Mac and pulling her to him, the two of them ducking down, bracing themselves against the console as Amy put her head in her knees and covered her head, Rory crouching onto the ground and covering his head…

When the shaking slowly started to stop. They looked up, startled, and ran to the console to see the emergency programs had nudged the TARDIS out of the tsunami and a safe distance away, but had locked on to the next location that they were meant to go to, before they'd gotten a chance to input the fish 'n' chip shop, and landed them.

"Textbook landing," the Doctor grinned.

"How would you know?" Mac scoffed lightly, "The manual's been torn to shreds in a supernova!"

"Yes, but you've practically got it all memorized, write it down and I'll read it then," the Doctor countered as they slowly moved for the doors, the Ponds watching them go for a moment before getting up to join them.

"Why? What makes me writing the manual different than the actual manual?"

"I'd pay more attention if it's your handwriting," he winked at her, pulling the doors open to allow her out. They appeared to have landed on a small island with what seemed to be a simple monastery in the middle of it, walls in ruins around them. They looked up to see a giant weathervane with a spire sticking out of it on the top of it, "Behold! A cockerel. Love a cockerel."

"And, more importantly," Mac eyed the building, "I think it's a 13th century monastery."

"Oh, we've gone all medieval," Amy mused.

"I'm not sure about that," Rory shook his head.

"Really?" she scoffed, looking at him, "Medieval expert, are you?"

"No, it's just that I can hear Dusty Springfield," he shrugged, following the Time Lords as they walked closer to the music, able to hear it now, there really was music playing in the background.

"And those are certainly not medieval," Mac added, spotting a sort of pipe running through a hole in the ground, what looked like a sort of crevice made from the tsunami, exposing the pipe that read 'DANGER – Corrosive' on it.

"Yes, these fissures are new," the Doctor agreed, "The solar Tsunami sent out a huge wave of gamma particles. This was caused by a magnetic quake that occurred just before the wave hit."

"Well, the monastery's standing," Amy glanced at it.

"Barely," Mac eyed it, taking out a small snow glow and handing it to the Doctor to shake and examine before he put it away. The way the particles fell in the liquid would tell them about the radiation in the area. So far, it was safe.

"This is a supply pipe," the Doctor soniced the pipe, looking at the readings on the screwdriver, "Ceramic inner lining. Something corrosive. They're pumping something nasty off this island, to the mainland."

"Acid," Mac suggested, "It's the most likely substance to require that."

"My mum's a massive fan of Dusty Springfield," Rory remarked after a moment.

"Who isn't?" the Doctor smiled.

"We'll go take you to a performance of hers after this," Mac looked at Rory, "Might even get her an autograph."

"That'd be brilliant," Rory blinked, smiling at the thought.

"Till ten, let's go satisfy our rabid curiosity!" the Doctor cheered, taking Mac's hand and leading her up a set of wooden stairs, Amy and Rory behind them as they stepped into a courtyard of the crumbling monastery.

"So…" Amy looked around, "Where are these Dusty Springfield-loving monks, then?"

The Doctor, however, was preoccupied, sonicing around the area, before he looked at the readings and showed them to Mac, "I think we're here. This is it."

"Just might be," Mac murmured, seeing a faint trace of something that had come up in the side information of Amy's own scan, something that she knew would lead the Doctor there. The TARDIS was a smart old girl, but there were times when some things took a while to process and to sort through and identify, what with every substance in the universe to sort through and certain substances able to replicate others.

"What are you talking about?" Rory frowned at them, "We've never been here before."

"We came here by accident," Amy agreed as the Doctor started to climb up another set of small steps.

"Accident?" the Doctor mumbled under his breath, "Yes, I know. Accident."

"Don't," Mac grabbed Rory's hand as he moved to poke one of the pipes that were running along the stairs, "Touch that," she warned, "If it IS acid that they're pumping, that could take your finger off," and Rory quickly put his hands in his pockets, making Mac smile, if only the Doctor was that easy to get him to not touch things he ought not touch. She spun around though when an intruder alarm started to go off to see the Doctor dash back to them from where he'd disappeared through a small archway, "Doctor!"

"There are people coming," he warned, "Well, almost."

"Almost coming?" Amy tried to clear up.

The Doctor grinned widely, correcting her with, "Almost people," before he took Mac's hand and tugged her off again, both excited to learn what was going on and eager to get to the bottom of what was wrong with Amy.

~8~

The small group ran into a room at the top of one of the monastery's towers, trying to avoid the alarms going off, only to stop short when they caught sight of human-shaped metal harnesses stationed in the window alcoves, a few of them occupied by men and women in orange jumpsuits, "What are all these harnesses for?" Amy frowned at them.

"Uh, the almost people?" Rory guessed.

"What are they, prisoners? Or are they meditating, or what?"

"None of the above, I'm afraid," Mac sighed, looking at them, "I've seen this tech before, the Sontarans seem fans of it. Those harnesses are meant to allow them to control their…"

"Halt and remain calm!" the computer alarm system cut her off.

"Well, we've halted," the Doctor smiled, glancing at them, "How are we all doing on the 'calm' front?" he spun around, hearing people stomping up the stairs and jumped in front of Mac when he saw two men and a young woman enter the room, the men with lances pointed at them.

"Don't...Move!" the elder of the two men narrowed his eyes at them.

"Stay back, Jen," the younger man called to the woman, "We don't know who they are."

"So let's ask them," Jen rolled her eyes, making Mac smirk at the sight, "Who the hell are you?"

"Well, I'm the Doctor," he greeted, "This lovely lady is Mackenzie, and that's Amy and Rory and it's all very nice, isn't it?"

"Hold up," Amy frowned, looking between the two men and the ones in the harnesses, they were the same, "You're all…what are you all, like, identical twins?"

"Clones of some sort," Mac guessed, continuing from where she'd been cut off, "The harnesses allow them to control their other selves."

"This is an Alpha-grade industrial facility," an older woman called as she strode into the room, another young man beside her, both of them in dark brown leather/metal protective suits, "Unless you work for the military or for Morpeth Jetson, you are in big trouble."

"Not really," Mac stepped up, pulling out her UNIT ID, "Agent Mackenzie of UNIT, here with my associates, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory," she gestured at them.

"Since when does UNIT send field agents to a monastery?" the woman scoffed.

"Since we determined non-terrestrial events, like solar waves, can affect humans and decided to investigate vulnerable areas," Mac shot back.

"We survived the solar wave, thank you very much."

"Barely," Mac corrected, "They're not finished yet, a second, bigger wave is approaching, and we're here to ensure that everything is in order to face that as well."

"We know the protocol," the woman rolled her eyes.

"Don't sass your superiors," Mac narrowed her eyes slightly at her, more in challenge than in irritation.

The woman's lips pursed, knowing that UNIT really did have the authority on anything that affected Earth that wasn't OF earth, and solar waves were one of them, "If there's another solar storm, what are you going to do about it, hand out sunblock?"

"As I said, we're here to make sure everything is in order," Mac shook her head, "We need to examine your critical systems."

"Which one?"

"Take a wild guess."

The woman's jaw clenched at that but she turned on her heel and walked way, leading them off.

"I love it when you do that," the Doctor murmured to Mac as he reached her, draping his arm around her shoulders.

"Do what?" she glanced at him.

"Flash your badge around."

"Really?" she scoffed, "I was told Harriet irritated many people doing that."

"Maybe SHE did, but you're not her," he winked at her, "I love seeing your badges, seeing you take command, it's nice to have a day off and know I don't have to worry about everyone alone."

She smiled at that, "Just like old times then, eh?"

He nodded, kissing her temple for it. When they'd been in school, she'd always mothered over everyone, worried about them endlessly. It wasn't unless HE was there with her that she was able to calm down and relax a bit more. She trusted him then, to help her take care of everyone else, she'd trusted that he'd help her protect them…it was wonderful to know she felt that way about him again.

What was a love or a marriage (well, really being each other's Chosens but it was like a marriage, almost) without trust?

They looked over when they entered a room that had a raised platform all the way at the end of it, before a window, a vat sitting on top of it. There was a small open tub-shaped object lying just before it on the ground, a pipe connecting it to the vat where they could hear a liquid bubbling the nearer they got to it. The Doctor slowly walked over to the vat, looking at a white liquid inside it, while Mac crouched down by the tub, examining it intently.

"And there you are," the Doctor whispered.

"Meet the government's worst-kept secret," the woman, the captain clearly, stated, "The Flesh. It's fully programmable matter. In fact, it's even learning to replicate itself at the cellular level."

"Really?" Mac looked up at her for that, "That's incredible."

"Yeah, right, incredible," Amy nodded along, before shaking her head, "Completely lost."

"Me too," Rory agreed.

The captain rolled her eyes, "Once a reading's been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything, replicate a living organism, down to the hairs on its chinny-chin-chin. Even clothes, and everything's identical, eyes, voice."

"Mind, soul," the Doctor added, casting a glance at Amy.

"Don't be fooled, Doctor. It acts like life, but it still needs to be controlled by us from those harnesses you saw."

"Wait," Rory stared at her, "Whoa, hold it. So... You're Flesh now?"

"She was attached to a harness Rory," Mac reminded him, "All of them in fact, except Jen over there."

"Don't be scared," the captain told them, "This thing? Just like operating a forklift truck."

"You said it could grow," the Doctor shook his head, "Only living things grow."

"Moss grows. It's no more than that. This acid is so dangerous, we were losing a worker every week. So now, we mine the acid, using these doppelgangers, or 'gangers.' If these bodies get burnt or fall in the acid..."

"Then who the hell cares?" the Ganger of the younger man smirked, "Right, Jen?"

"Well," Jen shifted, seeming uncomfortable with that thought, "The nerve endings automatically cut off, like airbags being discharged, except we wake up and get a new ganger."

"It's weird," the ganger of the older man stated, "But you get used to it."

"Jennifer, I want you in your ganger," the captain ordered, "Get back to the harness."

Mac looked over, hearing the sonic whirring and stood to see the Doctor was scanning the Flesh in the vat.

"Hang on!" the ganger of the young man cried, "What's he up to? What are you up to, pal?"

"Stop it," the Doctor huffed at the vat as he struggled to pull away from it, "Ahh!" before managing to do it.

"You alright Doctor?" Mac made her way over to him.

He nodded but looked at her, "It was strange. It was like, for a moment there, it was scanning me."

Mac frowned and looked over at the vat, stepping closer to it and gently reaching out to touch the actual Flesh.

"Agent Mackenzie…" the captain began but Mac frowned, wincing as she felt her hand get stuck to the Flesh and tried to pull away, struggling to do so, "Get back. Leave it alone!"

The Doctor jolted forward and grabbed Mac around the middle, helping to pull her back as she gasped, "I get it now," she murmured, looking at the Doctor, '_The Flesh…it really is ALIVE,_' she told him, '_It's developing a consciousness._'

"Mac, are you alright?" Amy called.

"Fine," she swallowed hard, "But the Flesh is FAR more advanced than you give it credit for," Mac looked at the captain.

But the woman just rolled her eyes, "Don't fiddle with the money."

"How can you be so blinkered?" the Doctor shook his head at her, "It's alive, so alive. You're piling your lives, your personalities, directly into it," he looked up as lightning struck and pulled out the snow globe again, examining it as the ground started to shake, "It's the solar storm. The first waves come in pairs, pre-shock and full shock, it's close."

"Buzz," the captain turned to the younger Ganger, the one who had come with Jen, "Have we got anything from the mainland yet?"

"No," he shook his head, "The comms are still too jammed with radiation."

"Ok then we'll keep pumping acid until the mainland says stop. Now, why don't you stand back and let us impress you…" she hit a switch and Flesh started to pour from the vat into the tub, slowly taking shape, a human shape, the face forming first, the mouth and then the eyes, before sucking in to Jen's general shape, though the face was smoothed over and Flesh white, half-formed.

It sat up with a gasp, fully formed.

"Well, I can see why you keep it in a church," the Doctor mused, "The miracle of life."

"No need to get poncey," Buzz rolled his eyes, "It's just gunge."

"Guys, we need to get to work," the captain reminded them.

"Ok, everybody," the ganger of the older man called, "Let's crack on," he reached out to help the ganger of Jen out of the tub.

"So you're going to completely disregard our warning about the solar storm?" Mac turned to the captain, "You HAVE to evacuate!"

"Well, where do you want us to go? We're on a tiny island."

"Well, we can get you all off it," the Doctor reasoned.

But the captain shook her head, "Don't be ridiculous. We've got a job to do."

The Doctor winced as the shaking got worse, an alarm starting to go off, "It's coming!"

"That's the alarm!" Ganger Jen gasped.

"Where do you get your power from?" Mac turned to her.

"We're solar and we use a solar router. The weather vane."

"Big problem," the Doctor breathed.

"Boss," the older ganger turned to the captain, "Maybe if the storm comes back, we should get underground. The factory's seen better days. The acid pipes might not withstand another hit."

"We have 200 tons of acid to pump out Jimmy," the captain gave him a hard look, "We fall behind, we stay another rotation. Anyone want that?"

"Please," the Doctor reached out to grab the captain's arm, tugging her to the side, "You are making a massive mistake here. You're right at the crossroads of it. Don't turn the wrong way. If you don't…if you don't prepare for this storm, you are all in terrible danger, understand?"

The captain just yanked her arm from his hold, "My factory, my rules," before walking away.

Mac sighed and rubbed her head, "This is not going to end well, is it?" she looked at the Doctor.

He gave her a solemn look, both of them knowing the answer to that, "We need to check the progress of the storm," he snapped his finger at Ganger Jen, "Monitoring station," and repeated the action when she hesitated, " Monitoring station!"

"Three lefts, a right, and a left," she answered, "Third door on your left."

"Thank you," he took Mac's hand and ran off with Amy and Rory, heading for the room Jen had described, trying to avoid pieces of the ceiling falling as the shaking worsened. They reached the room with a circular bank of controls in the middle, screens set up of security footage.

Mac rushed over to one of the gauges, looking at them intently, "The wave's disturbing the earth's magnetic field," she warned the Doctor.

"Which means there is going to be the mother and father of all power surges," he nodded, understanding, "And not the good kind of power surge."

"There's a good kind?" Rory frowned.

"Whenever I look at Kenzie," he winked at her.

Mac shook her head though she blushed at that and pointed to a monitor, "The weather vane is the solar router, it's directing the solar power to the factory. If the wave hits and it's still receiving power…" she shook her head.

"Boom," he nodded solemnly, "Kenzie," he pointed at her, "Stay here, keep an eye on the power levels, warn me," he tapped his head, "When they reach critical if I've not shut if off by then," she nodded at that, "I've got to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose," he cried, rushing to the door, only to stop and chuckle to himself, "I never thought I'd have to say that again."

"The solar router Doctor!" Mac called in reminder.

"Right yes," he moved to go but spun around to point at Amy, "Amy, breathe," he ordered before finally disappearing.

"Yeah!" Amy nodded, before frowning as she realized what he'd said, "I mean, thanks? I'll try?" she looked at Mac who could only shrug, she honestly wasn't sure what he meant by that…

"You two go," she ushered them off, "Get as low as you can, the foundation will be stronger."

"What about you?" Rory frowned.

"If I die, I come back," she reminded them, "If you die…it just gets messy. Now GO!"

Amy took Rory's arm and rushed off with him, Mac moving to take a seat at the controls, her eyes on the gauges, the levels ok despite the building wave…when suddenly lightning struck it and the Doctor she could see climbing up to it and surged through the factory…and her world went black…

~8~

"Doctor!" Mac called as she caught up with the small group of people outside the dining hall, having been on her way towards the harness room at the same time, it appeared, they were on their way to her.

"Kenzie!" the Doctor cried, rushing over to her, "I was just about to get you when I saw you weren't with the Ponds," he told her, hugging her tightly.

"I was in the control room," she nodded, "The power surge must have knocked me out, I came round just now and wanted to check on everyone."

He let out a breath and kissed her forehead, "I'm glad you're ok."

"I'm glad YOU'RE ok," she countered, "I saw you get hit with that lightning mister."

He smiled at that, "Yeah, well, not the most powerful electricity I've experienced."

"Kite flying with Benjamin Franklin?" she guessed.

"No," he shook his head, before taking her hand and winking at her, making her smile and blush.

She looked over to see that Buzz, Jimmy, Dicken, and Jen were slowly entering the dining hall, Rory and Amy, safe and sound, waiting in the hall, Dusty Springfield playing in the air, "Are you two alright?" she asked them.

"We're fine," Rory nodded, his arm around Amy, "We were safe, just got knocked out for a little."

Mac looked at the Doctor seriously, '_It's been an hour,_' she told him, having checked one of her watches in her pockets the moment she'd woken up.

He nodded, '_I know._'

He took her hand and slowly led her into the dining room after the workers, Amy and Rory behind them to see that the place appeared to have been searched through, various items scattered across the table.

"…could've escaped through the service door in the back," Jimmy was saying.

"This is just like the Isle of Sheppey," Buzz remarked as Mac moved over to look at a house of cards on the table, the Doctor sitting down at the head of it, eyeing the items on top of it.

"It would seem the storm has animated your gangers," the Doctor remarked.

"They've ransacked everything!" the captain cried.

"No, it's too organized," Mac shook her head, "They searched through it."

"Through our stuff?"

"BOTH your stuffs," Mac corrected, "It's as much theirs as it is yours."

"Searching for what?" Jim frowned.

"Confirmation," the Doctor supplied, "They need to know their memories are real."

"Oh, so they've got flaming memories now!" Buzz scoffed.

"They feel compelled to connect to their lives, yeah."

"Their stolen lives," the captain glared.

"You GAVE them those lives," Mac shook her head, "Too late to take it back now. You shouldn't have poured everything you were into them and made them replicas of yourselves. Anything that lives can hold a memory, you put enough of yourself into it over time, it'll hold memories of you as well."

"Human lives are amazing," the Doctor smiled at them, "Are you surprised they walked off with them?"

"I'll say it again," Buzz muttered, "Isle of Sheppey."

"And what happened on the Isle since you seem so keen to bring it up," Mac looked at him, exasperated.

"Ganger got an electric shock, toddled off, killed his operator, right there in his harness. I've seen the photos. This bloke's ear was…"

"Even if this has actually happened, they can't remain stable without us plumbed into them," Jim argued, "Can they, boss?"

The captain sighed, "I guess we'll find out."

Mac looked over seeing Jen seemed to have turned a bit ill and had moved to leave, mumbling something about the bathroom as Rory went with her.

'_Don't,_' she heard the Doctor call in her mind as she took a step to follow, not wanting to let Rory roam alone.

'_But..._' she turned to look at him.

'_He's just going to the loo,_' he smiled at her, a laugh in his voice, '_I think he can handle that himself._'

Mac sighed and glanced back at the small plastic sheeting that made up the door as Rory and Jen disappeared through it, but made no move to follow when Dicken sneezed. She looked back to see the Doctor studying the house of cards on the table.

"That's me," Buzz remarked, "It's good to have a hobby. So, what, my ganger did that, all on its own?"

"Who taught you to do this?" the Doctor looked at him.

"Me granddad."

"Well, your ganger's granddad taught him to do it, too."

Mac sighed, seeing Buzz looked disturbed by that, "You gave him your childhood memories," she reminded him, "All of your thoughts and feelings and memories are copied into your ganger, it's as real to him as it is to you. You both have the same grandfather, and he taught you both to do that."

"No," Buzz knocked the cards down.

"What's so disturbing about all this?" Mac shook her head at him, "You don't even seem to want to accept that YOU just gave someone life, a new species possibly, new humans, and you're acting like it's a travesty."

"Right now they're scared, disoriented, struggling to come to terms with an entire life in their heads," the Doctor warned them, "They're vulnerable and acting out like that," he stood, "It's only going to make them discouraged and fearful of you."

Mac watched as the Doctor glanced at the captain a moment before heading to a microwave and putting some food in, when Jim spoke, pulling her attention back, "We need to protect ourselves."

"If you ran into any one of us in the halls Jimmy," Mac looked at him, "Would you randomly attack us?"

"Of course not," he frowned.

"So neither will the other you."

The captain eyed the Doctor oddly as he stood before the microwave, waiting, "Don't tell me you can eat at a time like this, Doctor."

"You told me that we were out cold for a few minutes, Cleaves," the Doctor looked at the captain, "When, in fact, it was an hour."

"Sorry?" she frowned, "I just assumed…"

"Well, it's not your fault. Like I said, they're disoriented," he glanced at Mac who nodded, understanding what he was trying to say, before his gaze turned to Amy, "Amy, when you got to the alcoves, who was in harness?" he looked back at the microwave as the timer went off and took the hot plate out with a towel.

"Um, Jimmy and Dicken were helping Buzzer out," Amy remarked.

"What about Jen?" Mac looked at her.

"She was standing on her own when we got to her."

The Doctor spun on his heel and held out the plate to the captain, Cleaves, to hold, and she took it…in her bare hands, not even flinching at the heat coming off it. The Doctor waited a moment to see if she'd realize, before telling her, "It's hot," instantly Cleaves seemed to either realize it or feel it as she hissed and dropped the plate to the ground, "The transmatter's still a little rubbery," the Doctor examined her hand, it wasn't even red or warm, "The nerve endings are not quite fused properly…"

"What the hell are you talking about?" she demanded, snatching her hand back, "Why didn't I feel that?!"

"You will when you stabilize," Mac told her gently.

"No, stop it," she backed away from them, "You're playing stupid games. Stop it!" she spun around, turning her back on them, not wanting to look at them, not wanting to see their faces and expressions as they looked at her and realized what she had.

"Sweetie it's ok," Mac stepped over to her side, gently placing her hand on Cleaves's shoulder, "You're safe, you don't have to hide, the Doctor and I, we can protect you and…"

But Cleaves, or her Ganger at least, spun around with a hiss, her face half-formed.

Buzz was up on his feet in an instant, grabbing a knife, but Jimmy held him back, though it didn't stop him from shouting at her, "Where's the real Cleaves, you thing?! What have you done with her?!"

"That's it," the Doctor said slowly, glancing at Mac and telling her to stay back for now, "Good. You remember. This is early Flesh, the early stages of the technology. So much to learn…"

"Mac, what's happened to her?" Amy whispered to the woman so as not to distract the Doctor.

"The Flesh is having trouble stabilizing," she told her, "It's not used to operating on its own and keeping itself together."

"We are living!" Ganger Cleaves cried, growling at the Doctor and lunging at him, shoving him aside as she ran from the room.

"Let her go!" the Doctor called, seeing Buzz about to take off after her.

"Oh god!" Amy gasped, turning to the Doctor and Mac in horror, "Rory!"

"Rory?" the Doctor frowned.

"He went with Jen!" Mac realized.

"Oh, Rory. Rory! Always with the Rory!" he turned and quickly ran out of the room, Mac, Amy, and Jimmy after him.

~8~

They'd had to take a different route to the nearest bathroom as the acid was starting to break through the pipes and seep into the ground, making the direct way too dangerous. Luckily, Jimmy had gone with them and they were able to get to the washroom easily and quickly…but Rory was nowhere to be seen…though there was a rather large, fist sized hole in one of the stall doors.

"Rory!" Amy ran to the other stalls, looking in to see if he was hiding in any of them.

The Doctor grimaced as he saw a bit of flesh in the sink, like someone coughed up a hairball, "Of course. Jennifer's a ganger, too."

"Doctor, you said they wouldn't be violent," Amy turned to him accusingly.

"He also said they were scared and angry," Mac repeated, "What happens when you put an animal in a corner that feels like that? It lashes out."

"So they ARE animals then?" Jimmy frowned.

"All humans are biologically categorized as animals, aren't you?" Mac countered.

Jimmy shook his head at them, "You're no weatherman. You know too much about the Flesh, early stages you called it. Why are you really here?"

But the Doctor just looked at Mac, "I have to talk to them," he told her, "I can fix this."

"I'll go with you," Mac nodded.

"No, no," he sighed, usually HE was the one begging her to come with him, but this time, with all the acid everywhere and he KNEW Amy would go after Rory, he needed her there with Pond 1, "Stay here, make sure everyone keeps calm and away from the acid. Please."

She let out a long breath but nodded, "Fine."

He smiled at that and kissed her forehead, "I'm going back to the TARDIS," he told Amy, "Wait for me in the dining hall. I want us to keep together, ok? No more wandering off."

Mac scoffed at that, especially when Amy asked, "What about Rory?!"

"Well, it would be safer to look for Rory and Jennifer with the TARDIS. Jimmy," he snapped his fingers and pointed at him, "Where's the nearest exit?"

"Turn left and keep going straight," Jimmy pointed at the door, "Can't miss it. But you're never going to get your vehicle in here."

The Doctor just smirked, "I'm a great parker," before he turned and hurried off.

The last thought to cross Mac's mind as she and Amy turned to go find Rory themselves was whether 'great parker' would end up meaning he'd gotten the TARDIS stuck in a puddle of acid.

~8~

Rory had been surprisingly easy to find actually, avoiding the acid was a bit trickier but Amy and Mac had managed to do it and find Rory at the same time. Though, with Rory came Jen, or who they thought was Jen at first yet it proved quickly to be her Ganger instead. They had all gathered back at the dining hall to try and await the Doctor and see what they should do next. Cleaves and Jen were the only ones missing of the 'Originals' as Buzz had begun to call them, and he seemed rather adamant to get them back. Poor Ganger Jen was sitting on one end of a table, Rory and Mac beside her, with Amy, Buzz, Jim, and Dicken across from her.

Buzz was currently glaring at her as though she were something disgusting under his shoe, "Where's Jen? What have you done with her?"

"I haven't seen her," Ganger Jen told him earnestly, "I swear. But, look, I'm her. I'm just like her. I'm real."

"You're a copy," Jim shook his head sadly, "You're just pretending to be like her."

"She's not pretending," Mac insisted, "She has all the memories and experiences of the 'real' Jennifer, it IS her."

"Jimmy, Buzzer, come on, you guys," Ganger Jen started to plead, "We've worked together for two years!"

"I work with Jennifer Lucas, not you," Buzz sneered at her.

"Ok," Amy cut in, seeing Mac appeared ready to slap the man for how vicious and biting he had been to Ganger Jen, "Let's not do anything at all…"

"Until the Doctor gets here," the Doctor's voice joined Amy's as he entered the room with Gangers Jim, Buzz, Dicken, and Cleaves behind him, "Hello!"

"This is…" Jimmy slowly turned to look as his Ganger.

"You're telling me," his Ganger nodded.

"Alright, Doctor," Ganger Cleaves rolled her eyes, "You've brought us together, now what?"

"First," he turned to Mac and gave her a small kiss, "I'm glad you're ok," he smiled at her, "Find Mr. Pond alright?"

She laughed, knowing that he'd have guessed they wouldn't leave Rory alone despite his orders to go back to the Dining Hall, "Surprisingly easy," she agreed, not counting a brief moment that Amy had stared at a wooden door in shock.

"Good," he nodded and turned to face the others, "I have one very important question…has anybody got a pair of shoes I could borrow? Size 10. Although I should warn you, I have very wide feet."

It was then that Mac noticed he was standing there in just his socks, "Parked the TARDIS in acid did you?" she guessed.

"Not on purpose."

~8~

Once the Doctor's issue with his shoes had been sorted out, having been given a pair of brown work boots to use, the meeting between the Gangers and Originals could begin…though the lines were very much divided, the Gangers on one side with the Originals on the other and poor Jen and Rory stuck in the middle. Amy was standing behind Mac and the Doctor, (they were hoping) to try and keep out of it and not be biased or take sides though they knew she probably favored the originals.

"It's complete bollocks to think the Flesh was EVER just moss," Mac gave Ganger Cleaves a pointed look.

"These are not copies," the Doctor emphasized, "The storm has hardwired them. They are becoming people."

"With souls?" Jimmy frowned.

"Rubbish," Dicken scoffed, before sneezing.

"Bless you," his Ganger offered, quite disproving that theory.

The Doctor smiled at that, "We were all jelly, once. Little jelly eggs, sitting in goop."

"Yeah, thanks," Amy grimaced at that, "Too much information."

He nodded and stood, "We are not talking about an accident that needs to be mopped up. We are talking about sacred life. Do you understand? Good. Now, the TARDIS is trapped in an acid pool. Once Kenzie and I work out a way to reach her, we can get you all off this island, humans and Gangers, eh, how does that sound?"

"Can we get home for Adam's birthday?" Jimmy asked, hopeful.

"What about me?" his Ganger looked at him, "He's my son, too."

"_You?_ You _really_ think that?"

"I _feel_ it."

"Oh, so you were there when he was born, were you?" he scoffed.

But his Ganger nodded, "Yeah. I drank about 8 pints of tea and they told me I had a wee boy and I just burst out laughing," he laughed at the memory, "No idea why. I miss home. As much as you."

"You see?" Mac looked between them, "He's as much you as you are," she glanced between the Jimmys, "He's as real as you are. To think of him less than human means that you yourself don't deserve to be called that," she shot a look at Buzz, before taking a breath, "So, now that we're nearly all together, we just have to find Jen and Cleaves and we can get you all out of here."

"I'll go and look for them," Jimmy volunteered, heading for the door.

"I'll give you a hand, if you like," his Ganger offered, moving to join him, "Cover more ground."

Jimmy looked a little surprised by it but nodded, "Yeah, ok, thanks," he started to smile, everyone watching them getting along…

When Cleaves's voice rang out behind them, "This circus has gone on long enough!" they all spun around to see her standing there with some sort of device that was crackling with energy in her hand, holding another controller attached to a wire in her other.

"Oh, great," her Ganger remarked dryly, "You see, that is just so typically me."

"Doctor, tell _it_ to _shut up_," she sneered.

"Please, no," the Doctor moved in front of Cleaves, while Mac moved nearer to her Ganger, "No! No!"

"Circuit probe. Fires about, oh, 40,000 volts. It would kill any one of us, so I guess she'll work on Gangers, just the same."

"It's interesting you refer to them as 'it,' but you call a glorified cattle prod a 'she.'"

"When the real people are safely off this island, then I'll happily talk philosophy over a pint with you, Doctor."

"What are you going to do to them?" Amy frowned, stepping back to Rory.

"Sorry, they're monsters, mistakes. They have to be destroyed."

"You know world wars have started with logic like that," Mac told her grimly, moving Cleaves's Ganger behind her, "It never ends well for the person who instigates that line of thinking."

"Give me the probe, Cleaves," the Doctor held out a hand to her.

"We always have to take charge, don't we, Miranda?" the Ganger sighed, "Even when we don't really know what the hell is going on."

"No don't!" Mac shouted when Ganger Buzz took off past her, racing for Cleaves, only for the woman to fire the prod at him three times, striking him in the chest.

He fell down and didn't get back up so the Doctor ran over to him, kneeling at his side, checking on him, "He's dead…" he breathed.

Cleaves smirked, "We call it 'decommissioned.'"

"And I call it murder!" Mac strode up to her.

"You stopped his heart," the Doctor glared, "He had a heart! Aorta, valves, a real, human heart! And you stopped it."

"You want to try that again, Cleaves," Mac moved right in front of her, "You'll have to 'decommission' ME first."

"What happened to Buzz will happen to us all, if we trust you!" Ganger Jen cried out, starting to back up.

"Wait, wait," the Doctor stood, seeing Cleaves powering up the prod again, as though about to use it with MAC right there, "Just wait."

But Mac leapt forward and grabbed Cleaves's arm, lifting it up so that the blast she'd been about to send went towards the ceiling instead, "Run!" she shouted to the Gangers as she struggled with Cleaves, Rory rushing over to help her pull the prod out of Cleaves's hand.

"You idiots!" Cleaves glared at them as Mac dismantled the prod.

"Look at what you've done, Cleaves," the Doctor shook his head at her, moving over to Mac, moving his arm around her, his hearts racing to have seen her facing down Cleaves and the prod, nearly taking that last blast for the sake of helping the Gangers.

"If it's war, then it's war. You don't get it, Doctor. How can you? It's us and them now," she looked at her crew, all of the Originals except Jen, "Us...and them."

"Us and them," Dicken nodded as Buzz crossed his arms, no question about whose team he was on.

Jimmy hesitated but sighed, "Us and them."

The Time Lords looked on unhappily, "Why must humans always resort to war," Mac murmured.

The Doctor could only hug her, he didn't know.

~8~

The Doctor and Mac were quietly discussing their options while Amy and Rory tended to covering Ganger Buzz's body, the other humans speaking quietly in the corner, and decided whatever was coming, they needed a place to defend themselves, "Cleaves!" the Doctor called, "The most fortified and defendable room in the monastery?" he scoffed when she didn't answer, "The most fortified and defendable room in the monastery?!"

"The chapel," she spoke, "Only one way in, stone walls, 2 feet thick."

"Good, we need to go there, NOW," Mac determined.

The Doctor nodded, "You've crossed one hell of a line, Cleaves. You've killed one of them. They're coming back. In a big way. Come on!" he took Mac's hand and Cleaves led them off towards the chapel, all of them rushing down the hall and into the room, the Originals first, then Amy, the Time Lords refusing to enter till everyone else was in.

"Rory!" Mac called when he hesitated.

"Rory?" Amy turned round at that, "Come on."

"Jen's out there," he shook his head, "She's out there and she's on her own."

"Well, if she's got any sense, then she's hiding," the Doctor tried to reason with him, grabbing Mac's hand to keep her from following the man, NOT about to let her out of his sight now, Rory would be safe, all the Gangers had seen him defend and protect Jen, they'd not hurt him, Ganger Jen wouldn't allow it.

"I can't leave her out there!" Rory shook his head, "I know you understand that."

"Get in here!" Amy tried to rush out after him, Mac turning to stop her, "Get in here!"

"There they are!" Cleaves gasped as the Gangers appeared at the end of the hall, wearing the metal acid suits and storming towards them.

The Doctor and Mac both grabbed Amy and pulled her into the chapel as Rory turned and took off down a side tunnel.

"Rory!" Amy struggled as the door was slammed shut, the Doctor sonic-locking it closed as the others moved to barricade it with every available object.

"Amy, Amy, they are not after him, they're after us," the Doctor tried to calm the woman down, keep her from struggling.

But then they heard something that made them lose their grip on Amy and her slip past them, a whispering in the back of the room, someone hiding in the shadows, "Why? Why?"

"Who's there?" Mac took a step towards it, "Come out."

The Doctor moved over to her side, ignoring the humans working on the door behind them, though they could hear Jimmy laugh, "This is insane. We're fighting ourselves!"

"Yes," the Doctor agreed, "It's insane and it's about to get even more insanerer. Is that a word?" he looked at Mac.

"No," she said simply, her eyes on the shadows, "Come out! It's ok, show yourself!"

"We are trapped in here and Rory is out there, with them," Amy stepped closer to them, "Hello! We can't get to the TARDIS and we can't even leave the island."

"Amy right now we may have bigger issues to worry about," Mac remarked, still staring at the shadows, "Please," she called to it, "Come out where we can see you?"

"For you dear, anything," the Doctor's voice called from the shadows but Amy gasped, seeing it wasn't _the Doctor_ that had said it, pulling the attention of the other humans towards her and the shadows where they could see a figure approaching, "Don't worry though, I know it's frightening, unexpected, frankly, a total, utter, splattering mess on the carpet, but I'm certain, 100% certain, that we can work this out," and then it stepped out of the dark, a Ganger of the Doctor with his face half-formed, "Trust me," he tweaked his bowtie, "I'm the Doctor."

To be continued…

A/N: I was torn here for Mac, to have her be a Ganger or not, but I sort of liked the idea of 2 Doctors focusing and 'wooing' just her ;) Oh boy ;)

Also, three small things, just because I've realized they get asked A LOT and it might help with any confusion lol.

1. Information about the dates I'll post a story for 2014 is on my tumblr's 'Upcoming Stories' page. The first post.  
2. I have a list on my FF profile with all the stories I'm planning to write (so far) if you're curious if I'm considering a story in a certain show/book/movie ;) I also have a small line about the shows/movies/books I have NO plans to write stories in for various reasons ;) I've also tried to give an idea of the stories (of that list) that are coming for 2015, assume all others are in 2016 and beyond ;)  
3. The general idea of when a story or series will be picked up again and posted once a series/movie airs are on my FF profile (for spin-offs and main stories). As I don't know the specific dates of airing, I've given it in terms of days/weeks afterwards ;)

Some notes on reviews...

I can't say if I'll do another Merlin story, I might possibly have a sequel of sorts in mind for TDP though ;)

What I try to do when I have ideas is to jot them down anywhere, eventually they sort of collect and might form a series :) I might find one that I really adore and it'll just hit me with more inspiration for it :) I would also say to try and write a little every day but don't try to force too much writing. I've hit times where I try to force my way through a chapter and what should take me 3 hours takes me 8 :( But I'd say just making a small collection of ideas to look back on might help organize your thoughts or find a recurring theme that you subconsciously really want to write :) Hope that helps! :)


	9. The Almost People

The Almost People

Mac winced as she looked on at the Ganger Doctor as he twisted and screamed, falling to his knees in pain and clutching his head, it appeared as though all his memories and lives were flashing through his mind given his mutterings, "I wonder if we'll get back. Yes, one day..." he hunched over, "Aaagh! I've reversed the polarity of the neutron flow…"

"The Flesh is struggling to cope with our past regenerations," the Doctor told it, "Hold on!"

"Would you like a jelly-baby?" the Ganger thrust his arm forward, holding out his hand to Mac as though offering her something, his voice sounding exactly like his fourth incarnation's before he shook it off, "Why? Why!?"

"Why what?" Mac shook her head, moving over to kneel before him, "_Theta_," she said in Gallifreyan, hoping it would help calm him, "_Calm down, breathe…_"

But the Ganger just jumped to his feet, his voice pitching to his last self's, "Hello. I'm the Doctor," before he winced and shook his head, "No, let it go, we've moved on! This is our new start with Kenzie, go away!" he shook his head again, trying to force the memories away.

"Doctor just hold on," Mac tried again, this time in English, "You'll stabilize in a few moments…"

The Ganger looked at her, his eyes wide and full of tears as he gripped her arms, "I've reversed the jelly-baby of the neutron flow," he breathed, "Would you like a..." he winced, "I love Chosen, my Kenzie…" he panted, "I'm...I can't," he whimpered.

"You can," Mac touched his face, stroking his cheek, her hearts breaking to see him in this much pain, "You'll be ok."

The Ganger's eyes searched hers, "You'll…take care of me?"

She smiled and nodded, "When do I not?"

He winced and hunched down, falling to his knees again, taking her down with him and hugging her around the middle, his face pressed on the side to her stomach, holding her tightly as she rubbed his back and looked at the Doctor. He was smiling at her for that.

"Always the mother hen aren't you?" he mused.

"I'm not your mother," she shot back, glancing at the Ganger, "Either of yours," she tilted her head to look at the Ganger Doctor's face, it had been flashing between fully formed and half formed, but it seemed to have stabilized well enough for now, "Better?" she asked.

The Ganger looked at her and smiled, nodding weakly as he reached out to touch her cheek, "Always am with you here to look after me."

She laughed lightly at that and gently helped him stand, though he winced and rubbed the side of his head, the memories settling but he could still feel them shifting, "There there," she rubbed his back still, "You'll be just fine sweetie."

"I wonder if that's it," he mused.

"What's it?"

"Where River got that from," he glanced at her.

Mac blinked, "Do I call you sweetie that often?"

"Me?" the Original Doctor scoffed, "Hardly ever."

"Everyone else though," the Ganger shrugged.

"Mostly when they're in pain."

"Or children."

"Or scared."

"Or hurt."

"Or…"

"I get it," Mac cut in, looking between them for it.

"I love you for that," they both said at once, before glancing at each other with an, "Oi!"

"Doctor!" Amy called, stepping over to them from where the Originals were still trying to barricade the door, "We need you and Mac. Get over here!"

"Hello!" the Ganger Doctor waved at her.

"Cybermats," the Doctor turned back to his Ganger, pointing at it.

The Ganger frowned, seeming to know what he was trying to do but hesitating, "Do we have time for this?"

"Never," Mac replied dryly, "But all the proof we can get that you're really HIM would help. So…Cybermats?"

The Ganger looked at her, "For you, dear, anything," he tapped her nose, making the Doctor roll his eyes at that before the Ganger looked at him, "Created by the Cybermen. They kill by feeding off brainwaves."

Their attention was pulled over to the door when it began to hiss, acid starting to eat away at it, "What I wouldn't give for more chocolate," Mac muttered, searching her pockets as the Doctors patted theirs.

"What?" Amy blinked at her, frowning.

"It's good for plugging up holes," Mac explained, "The acid creates a chemical reaction with the chocolate that creates a sticky substance that sort of bonds to the area around it and prevents a leak."

"Is THAT how you got the hallways safe?" Amy asked her, Mac had gone ahead of her to get Rory, had moved to take lead and make sure the halls were safe. Surprisingly few of them had acid leaks…now she knew why, Mac had been clogging them. With chocolate apparently.

"What else would you use to stop acid?" Mac shook her head, not quite understanding why they humans seemed so surprised that she'd used chocolate. She glanced at the door when the Gangers on the other side started to pound on it as well and looked at the Doctors, "We need a plan, the door won't hold for long."

"Rory and Amy may not trust both of us," the Ganger warned.

"I'm not really worried about that," the Doctor shrugged.

"As long as Kenzie trusts us," the Ganger agreed.

The Doctor smirked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Inevitably."

"I'm glad we're on the same..."

"Wavelength. You see, great minds."

"Exactly."

Mac made the 'stop talking' motion to them with both hands, "Plan. Not thing. Now."

"I love it when you tell me to stop talking you know," the Ganger confessed.

"Though I would prefer a different method of doing it," the Doctor added.

"Like what?" Mac shook her head, "I've been using that motion since I first met you!"

"Yeah, bout time for a change then," the Ganger smiled.

"So what would you prefer I do to shut you up then?" she crossed her arms.

The Doctor seemed to have been waiting for just that question as he reached out and pulled her into his arms, kissing her as his Ganger made a face at them for it, "I rather thing that," the Doctor winked at her as he pulled away, resting his forehead to hers.

"Should I start gobbing then?" the Ganger gave himself a look, "I'd like a kiss."

Mac shook her head at him and stepped over to him, leaning in to kiss his cheek, but, as the Doctor always did, he turned his head and caught a peck out of her too.

"Oi!" the Doctor pouted, tugging her back to himself, "MY Chosen."

"My Chosen too," the Ganger smirked.

"Children," Mac rolled her eyes at them, "The plan?"

"Save them all, humans and Gangers," the Ganger nodded.

"That's a THING, Doctor, not a plan."

"I think it sounds wonderful," the Doctor defended.

"Is that what you were thinking?" his Ganger looked at him.

"It's just so inspiring to hear me say it."

"I know!"

Mac rubbed her head, "You're either going to drive me mad, try to woo me, or make me want to kill you both, aren't you?"

"I like option 2," the Ganger smirked at the Doctor.

"Yes, 2 sounds lovely," he agreed.

"Doctor, come on!" Amy snapped, seeing the Time Lords just standing there talking as the acid ate away at the door.

"So, what now, Doctor?" the Ganger looked at him.

"Well, time to get cracking, Doctor," he took Mac's hand…at the same time that his Ganger took her other hand, and the two of them stepped forward, taking Mac with them.

"Hello!" they said as one, "Sorry..."

"One at a time," Mac gave them a look.

The Ganger nodded and began, "We had to establish a few…"

"Ground rules," the Doctor finished, glancing at Amy, seeing her looking down at their shoes, him in his brown work boots and his Ganger in his original black shoes.

"Formulate a..."

"Protocol."

"Protocol. Very posh."

"Yes, well that does happen when we're trying to impress."

"Isn't Kenzie already impressed with us though?"

"A little more wouldn't hurt," he winked at Mac.

"True, very true."

"A protocol between us," the Doctor picked up again, "Otherwise..."

"It gets horribly embarrassing."

"And potentially confusing."

"I'm glad you've solved the problem of confusing," Amy remarked dryly.

"That's sarcasm," the Ganger pointed out.

"She's very good at sarcasm," the Doctor agreed.

Before they both turned to Amy and shouted, "Breathe!"

"What?" Amy nearly flinched back at that.

"Haven't solved the problem of the earache then," Mac muttered, rubbing her head.

But that only made the Doctor move his arm around her waist and kiss her temple while his Ganger put an arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek, the two of them starting to glare at her over her head. Mac glanced between them and sighed, perhaps it was just the two options then. They'd make her go mad or try to woo her…and likely kill each other before the day was done.

"Ok," she took a breath, "So far the 'thing' we know we need to try for is to get you lot all off this island, ALL of you," she gave the humans a pointed look, "You AND your Gangers. Your Gangers and you. The two pairs of you. Have I made myself clear about who's leaving this island alive, and that it's ALL of you?"

"Sorry, would you like a memo from the last meeting?" Cleaves scoffed, "They're trying to kill us!"

"Yes, because YOU killed one of them!" Mac reminded her, "Don't pin this on them Cleaves, when they're just reacting to what YOU initiated."

"Ok, regardless of who started this," Amy cut in, "How are we going to get off the island when we're trapped in here?"

"We're NOT trapped in here," the Doc tor smirked, "The Flesh Bowl is fed by cabling from above…"

"But where are the earthing conduits?" the Ganger finished.

Mac looked up and saw the piping feeding from the Flesh above them, "The piping has to go down some sort of tunnel or shaft," Mac mused.

"Ah ha!" the Doctor cheered, finding a grate with a small vent shaft behind it, "Yowza! An escape route," he smiled back at them, not seeing Amy mouth 'Yowza' to the others, "You know, I'm starting to get a sense of just how impressive it is to hang out with me."

"Do we tend to say 'yowza?'" his Ganger asked.

"You remember what we were thinking when we first saw Kenzie in her dress for Amy's wedding?"

"Ahh, yes, almost forgot about that."

Mac blinked, "You 'yowza'ed?"

"Repeatedly," the Ganger nodded.

"But unlike then, right now it's because we're under stress," the Doctor turned back to the grate and got it open with his sonic, allowing them all in and to their escape.

~8~

The small group of humans, Time Lords, and one Time Lord Ganger, was running down a tunnel, having escaped the chapel they'd hidden themselves in through the vent shaft, trying to get as far away from the other Gangers as possible, "The army will send a recon team," Buzz was saying.

"We need to contact the mainland," Cleaves remarked.

"What about Rory and Jen?" Amy frowned, "They are both out there."

"And so are the Gangers," Mac agreed, "We need all of you to evac properly."

The humans ignored that remark.

"Takes a long time to find someone in a maze," the Doctor glanced at Cleaves, "I bet you lot have got a computer map."

Cleaves nodded, "If we can get power running, we can scan for them."

Mac started to cough a little big, before noticing the gas starting to rise around them in a bit of a white haze, "Cover you're mouths!" she shouted, moving the sleeve of her cardigan over her nose and mouth, the others doing the same, some lifting the neckline of their shirts over their noses, "The acid is interacting with the stone and it's creating a noxious gas," she explained.

"If we can get above it..." the Ganger Doctor looked around.

"The evac tower!" Cleaves cried, before rushing off, leading them with a shout of, "This way!"

They ran through the tunnel, only just starting to cough when they ran up a flight of stairs and into a tower that had a large control panel before them, monitors and buttons and levers everywhere, but none of it seemed to be working. The Doctors and Mac ran for the controls, the Doctor in the front, checking it with the sonic while the Ganger ducked behind it and scanned it with his own, Mac moving to the buttons to try and see if anything might be working as a chime went off to mark the hour.

"It's midnight," Jim blinked, smiling softly, "It's Adam's birthday. My son's five. Happy birthday, bud."

"And we'll make sure it's a good one," Mac agreed, as she moved before the controls as the Doctor joined his Ganger behind, the two of them working on restoring the power while Mac kept an eye on the controls to see if it was working, "We just have to get the power online."

Cleaves seemed shocked at that as she looked at the woman, "Can you really get the power back?"

"There's always some power floating around," one Doctor remarked as he popped up from behind the panel, before ducking back down as the other popped up.

"Sticking to the wires, like bits of lint," the second Doctor finished.

Amy shook her head at that, "Can you stop finishing each other's..."

"Sentences?" the first Doctor popped up, grinning, "No probs."

"Yes," the second pointed at her and they both ducked down.

Amy turned to Mac, "Can YOU ask them to stop it?" she looked at the Time Lady, "They'd do it for you."

"We'd do anything for her," one of the Doctors held up their hand, a set of pliers in them.

"More than anything," the second held up his own hand as well, a small mallet in it.

"Anything times 11."

"Times infinity."

"Times…"

"Ok, we get it," Amy rolled her eyes, "You love her."

The two Doctors popped up to smile at Mac, "Yes," they agreed, before looking at each other and 'Oi'ing again and ducking down.

"Is the TARDIS going to be able to get us out?" Amy looked at Mac again, "He parked her in acid, wouldn't she be damaged?"

"The TARDIS is built to withstand quite a lot Amy," Mac shook her head, "She'll be just fine."

"She's a tough old thing," the first Doctor popped up to smile, "Tough, old, sexy."

" No," the other Doctor joined him above the panel, "Tough, dependable, sexy."

"Still not as sexy as OUR sexy though," the Doctor winked at Mac.

"I prefer beautiful," the second one leaned in to smile at her, "The face that launched 10,000 spaceships, eh?"

"I'm no Helen of Troy," Mac shook her head, catching the reference and the flirt.

"No, you're Kenzie of TARDIS," the second Doctor winked.

"You're is FAR more lovely than Helen was, let me tell you," the first Doctor pointed at her.

"Ok, there's no way both of you are real," Amy shook her head at them, "One of you is bad enough. Wouldn't the Universe sort of explode if there really were two of you?"

"Doesn't look like it just yet," Mac mused, "But then again, it only took one of him to get the Universe to explode last time…"

"We're just real Pond," the first Doctor rolled his eyes, "I'm the Doctor."

"So am I," the second nodded, "We contain the knowledge of over 900 years of experience. We both wear the same bowtie, which is cool."

"Because bowties are..."

"And always will be."

"But you weren't linked up to the Flesh," Amy argued.

"It must've been after I examined it," the first Doctor shrugged, which made Mac look at him and frown as to why HE was the one saying that, "Thus, a new, genuine Doctor was created," he gestured at the second Doctor.

"Ta-da!"

'_Theta?_' Mac called out to his mind, but only the SECOND Doctor looked over at her, winking.

'_Don't say a word Naey,_' he warned her lightly and she nodded, keeping his secret as to which Doctor was the original and which was the Ganger. She wasn't sure if it was a ruse by them, that the first Doctor hadn't responded or if his transmatter was still settling, but…she wasn't getting the same sense off of the first Doctor as the second. She couldn't sense him as an actual Time Lord despite knowing he was exactly like the Doctor.

"But one of you was here first," Amy kept on.

The first Doctor, the 'Original' Doctor sighed, "After the Flesh scanned me, I had an accident with a puddle of acid. Now new shoes, a situation which did not confront me learned self here."

"That satisfy you, Pond?" the second, the Ganger Doctor, smirked.

"Don't call me Pond, please," Amy requested, sticking her nose up a bit in the air as she spoke, making all three Time Lords look at her, "What?"

"Why did you just do that?" Mac frowned at her.

"Do what?"

"Tell HIM not to call you Pond, the Doctor always calls you Pond."

"Yeah," Amy nodded, as though it should be obvious, "The DOCTOR does…that's…" she eyed the Ganger, "Not him."

"It IS him, Amy," Mac shook her head at him.

"No, see…" Amy sighed, glancing at the Ganger, "Look, you're fine and everything, but you're not the Doctor. No offence. Being almost the Doctor is pretty damn impressive."

"Being almost the Doctor's like being no Doctor at all," the Ganger remarked, offended.

"Don't overreact…"

"You might as well call me...Smith."

"Smith?"

"John Smith."

"No, we'll call you the Doctor," Mac shook her head, "Because that's who and what you are," she looked at Amy disappointed, "It's the same Doctor, Amy, what does it matter if he's made out of Flesh or flesh."

"What?" Amy frowned, not catching the difference between the upper and lowercase use of F for that.

"Exactly," Mac gave her a pointed look, "They are both the Doctor, like he said, same memories, same experiences…"

"But it's not the same."

"You remember we told you about regeneration?" Mac crossed her arms, challenging her.

"Yeah, and?"

"How's that different?" Mac looked at her, "How is us turning into a different person entirely, but with the same thoughts and same memories and same experiences?"

"You'd still be real," Amy emphasized.

"And so are the Gangers," Mac sighed, "They are living, breathing, feeling creatures, the same as any human. Or do you think Rory was as much an abomination as you seem to think the Gangers are."

"I NEVER thought of Rory like that!" Amy glared.

"Even when he was made of plastic?" Mac smirked, catching her, "He was JUST like the Gangers Amy, except they are Flesh and he was plastic. Living plastic, living Flesh. Tell me, where is the difference? Hmm?"

Amy fell silent.

"The next time you say anything about the Gangers, you think of Rory and you think of how HE would feel if you kept insisting HE wasn't real when the Pandorica opened. As I seem to recall, YOU were the one insisting he was Rory Williams, your boyfriend, and your fiancé. You had no qualms when a person who looked like him and thought like him and acted like him was running around made of plastic, so don't say anything about the same thing happening here with Flesh or else I'll start to think of you as a hypocrite."

"Ooh," the Doctor hissed at that, "Kenzie hates them second to people who break her trust."

"I may just hate them more," she muttered, "I was one."

"No," the Ganger shook his head, seeing her looking away, ashamed. Both Doctors knew just how much this current her regretted the one she'd been before, whether or not she had been a hypocrite to think some things about him…that wasn't who she was in general, deep down, it was just her anger that had made her like that, but that wasn't what should define her, "You were hurt, but you got better."

She smiled a bit at that, "YOU made me better," she glanced between them, "My stupid old Doctor," they winked at her for that and, a moment later, the lights on the controls flashed to life, "And we've got power!" she cheered and the Doctors ran out from behind the controls to the front to help her start up the machine.

"Find Rory!" Amy called, moving to Mac's side, "Show me the scanny, tracky screen. Come on, Rory, let's be having you."

"There's no sign of him anywhere," Cleaves shook her head, looking for him on a monitor but not seeing him.

"Come on, baby, show yourself…"

Cleaves moved over to a radio as soon as it was up and online, "St. John's calling. Emergency Alpha. St. John's calling the mainland. Are you receiving me, Captain?" she called, waiting for a response, "Come in?" before sighing, "We'll never get a signal through this storm," she muttered, trying again, "St. John's calling the mainland. Come in, this is urgent."

"We're just about reading you, St. John's," a man called back, "How are you doing? We've had all kinds of trouble here."

"Request immediate evacuation. We're under attack. The storm's affected our Gangers. They're running amok."

"…your Gangers?"

"Yes, our Gangers are attacking us. We need you to take us off the island immediately and wipe them out."

"Cleaves!" Mac shouted at that, horrified.

"Copy that, St. John's. Shuttle's dispatched. Hang on."

"You'll need to airlift us off the roof of the evac tower," Cleaves warned, ignoring Mac, "And Captain, any further transmission sent by me must come with the following code word. I'm typing it, in case they're listening in."

"Got it. We'll swing in, get you out and decommission the Flesh."

"We've got to get out of here," Buzz remarked as the transmission cut, if they could get to the roof, they could secure it against the Gangers.

"We're not leaving without them," Amy shook her head.

"I want 'em found too, but it's about casualties, innit? Can't be helped."

"That's a load of bollocks that it can't be helped," Mac scoffed, "It can be, you just don't want to."

Amy sighed and looked over to see one of the Doctors was at the console, working on something. She glanced at his boots, seeing it was the brown work-boot one, the real Doctor, and moved over to him, trying to ignore the Ganger watching them from another control as she sat down beside her Doctor, "What are you doing?"

"Making a phone call," he answered.

"Who to?"

"No one yet. It's on delay."

"Right, not getting it, why exactly are you making a phone call?"

"It's a part of his 'thing,' Amy," Mac told her, moving to join them, leaning against the controls.

"The wheels are in motion," he smiled, moving to spin Amy's chair, leaving it to spin and face the Ganger.

Amy fell silent for a moment, "You know, really, there can be only one."

"You know, really, Rory shouldn't have existed at all," Mac countered, knowing she was alluding to the Ganger Doctor, "Care to keep this game up Amelia?"

Amy looked away, "Never mind," she murmured, getting up and walking off, though still keeping away from the Ganger.

Mac looked down when she felt someone take her hand to see the Doctor had grabbed it and was holding it gently, he tugged her closer and pressed her hand to his hearts in the center of his chest. She understood the meaning all too well she thought, he was trying to tell her that he had a real set of hearts as well, they were beating, he was living and breathing, just like the humans and Gangers and other living organisms were.

She smiled and nodded, reaching out to touch his cheek.

"You're wrong," he murmured, leaning into her touch.

"About?" she eyed him, not sure.

"It's not that my hearts are beating."

"How'd you know that?" she whispered, knowing he couldn't hear her in his mind.

"Your expressions," he nodded at her, "You're as expressive now as you were in your first incarnation, I can read you like a book."

She nodded at that, "And what is it if not that your hearts are beating?"

He smiled, "How fast they're beating, NOW," he gave her a pointed look.

"You know, it's not fair you didn't take me with you to inspect the Flesh that second time," she remarked, "I'd have liked to have two of me here to combat the double dose of Doctor. It's not fair at all."

"I know," he sighed, "The Universe would be a more wonderful place if there were more of you," he winked.

"Not what I meant," she laughed…

Only for them to hear Amy gasp and look over to see the ginger human backing away from one of the walls, pale and shaky.

"Amelia?" Mac frowned, "What's wrong?"

"What happened?" the Doctor asked as she stumbled back over to them, sitting in her chair.

"It's her again."

The Time Lords glanced at each other, "Who?"

Amy swallowed, seeing the Ganger move to inspect the wall, before she turned back to them, "There's a woman I keep seeing, a woman with an eye-patch, and she has this habit of sliding walls open and staring at me."

"It's nothing," the Doctor waved her off, squeezing Mac's hand he was still holding, asking her silently with the action to, just this once, NOT tell Amy the truth, not till they knew for sure.

Mac bit her lip at that, not feeling comfortable with not telling the companion what was going on but…IF they were wrong…it would make Amy panic. Actually it would make Amy panic if they were right as well.

"Doesn't seem like nothing," Amy muttered.

"It's a time memory," the Doctor waved it off, slapping her thigh comfortingly, "Like a mirage. It's nothing to worry about," and with that, he spun back to the console.

"It's in my head..." the Ganger whispered, closing his eyes in pain and shaking his head, before he turned and strode out of the room, through a door quickly.

"Hey, hold on!" Jim called.

"Don't let him go!" Cleaves rushed to stop him.

"I've got it," Mac remarked, pushing off the controls to go follow him.

"Oi, don't go alone!" Amy ran after her, the two ginger women stepping into the next room to see the Ganger standing there, facing the wall, his back to them, hardly any light around.

"Doctor?" Mac moved right over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, sliding it down his back to rub it, taking one of his hands in her other.

Amy, was far less keen to get so close, "I'm sorry," she offered, seeing the man's shoulders shaking in effort, "What I said about you being almost the Doctor, it's just really hard, because I've been through so much with him and Mac," she smiled at Mac, earning a small smile back as well for trying to explain her actions, "I've even seen...I've even seen the moment of his..."

"Amy DON'T," Mac looked at her warningly.

Amy swallowed, holding off on that, asking instead, "Can you die? If you really are the same, then you can die. You can be killed, and..."

"Amy!"

"I might have seen that happen," Amy winced, seeing Mac glaring at her, knowing she'd likely get hell for this later.

"Why?" the Doctor breathed.

"Why?" Amy scoffed, "Because you invited us to see it! Your death!"

"Amy not that!" Mac shouted to her…but the Ganger grabbed her by her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"Why?!" he shouted at her.

"Doctor let her go!" Amy tried to rush over, but the Ganger moved, pressing Mac against the wall and, while the Time Lady showed no fear, Amy ran back for the door to get help.

"Why what?" Mac asked him gently.

He panted "It's all the eyes say," he told her, his voice shaking, "Why?! I can feel them as they work each day, _knowing _the time was coming for them to be thrown away again. 'Not again, please!' And then they are destroyed and they feel _death_, and all they can say is, 'Why?!'"

Mac pulled herself free and hugged him tightly, seeing tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry," she whispered to him, "I'm sorry you're feeling that," she murmured, "It has to be your connection to the Ganger," she whispered to him incase anyone was about to enter the room, "You're linked to his mind and he's the Flesh, everything that the Flesh in general, just the substance along feels that he can't…YOU feel instead," she pulled back cupping his cheeks, wiping the single tear that had fallen away with her finger, "None of the humans have the capacity to be telepathically linked to the thing they created," she looked at him intently, "I'm sorry you are."

The 'Ganger' pulled her back in, hugging her tightly for a moment longer before he took a breath and took her hand and pulled her back towards the evac tower, opening the door just as Jimmy and Buzz seemed to be reaching for the knob.

"Everything alright?" Mac eyed them.

"Could ask you the same thing," Jimmy remarked.

"Girl over there was screaming bloody murder," Buzz added.

"I'm FINE," Mac shot Amy a look.

"He was hurting you!" Amy shouted.

"Did you see me wince?" she asked, "Flinch? Shout in pain? Cry? TELL him he was hurting me?" she shook her head, "Time Lords are made of stronger stuff than a human Amy, and that's IF he was hurting me to begin with. Don't assume the worst in the Gangers," she warned her, "Don't you dare think poorly of them for that when YOUR fiancé SHOT me when he was plastic and you stood by him."

"Stop bringing Rory up!"

"Stop being a prejudiced idiot then!" Mac huffed back.

"Ok, ok, ok," the Doctor cut in, standing, holding out his hands at them to stop them shouting.

"Did you sense it?" the Ganger looked at him intently.

"Briefly," he nodded, "Not as strong as you."

"Amy," the Ganger looked at her, "I'm sorry if I frightened you but…" he took a breath, "It would appear I can connect to the Flesh."

"Well, you _are_ Flesh," Amy mumbled, pointing a finger at Mac, "Even YOU can agree that much is true."

The Ganger ignored her and continued to speak to the Doctor, "I'm beginning to understand what it needs."

"What YOU want. You are it."

"Amy if you're just going to repeat yourself, shut up," Mac snapped at her, rubbing her head. She'd have thought that, with all Amy had seen, with RORY being a plastic Centurion, that Amy, of all of them, would be more accepting of the Gangers.

"It's much more powerful than we thought," the Ganger warned the Doctor and Mac, the Doctor tugging Mac over to him to wind his arm around her, "The Flesh can grow, correct?" he looked at Cleaves.

"Its cells can divide," Cleaves answered.

"Which means YES," Mac shot her a look as well, starting to feel a familiar lack of patience springing up about the humans.

"Well, now it wants to do that at will," the Ganger stated, "It wants revenge. It's in pain, angry. It wants revenge."

"I was right," Amy mumbled, "You're not the Doctor. You can't ever be. You're just a copy."

"Amy," Mac took a breath, "Do you know what this is?" she pulled a roll of silver out of her pocket.

"Duct tape."

"And you know what I use it for, yes?"

"To get the Doctor to shut up sometimes."

"Very good," her eyes narrowed, "DON'T make me use it on you two. One more word about the Flesh out of you that's even remotely negative and I will not just tape your mouth shut, I swear to god I will get the Doctor to drop you off in Leadworth."

Amy frowned at that, "You wouldn't…"

Mac swallowed hard, not wanting to threaten that with her but she was getting to the end of her rope with all these people claiming the Flesh wasn't real, "Doctor?" she looked at him, "If I asked…"

"I said it once, I'll say it again," the Doctor looked at her earnestly...and pointed at his Ganger.

"For you dear, anything," he recited.

"Be careful what you say next Amy," Mac warned before glancing at the rest of them, "One more word out of ANY of you about the Flesh, about decommissioning it, about how it's not real…and I will go find our transport myself, come back JUST for the Doctors and Amy and Rory, and LEAVE you here with the acid and Gangers and everything. So the lot of you, sit down and shut up, because I am at my wits end with you humans right now."

The Doctor crossed his arms at that, "Well said."

Even though he and his Ganger wouldn't let that happen, let the humans or Gangers be left behind…Mac had certainly made an impression on the humans as they all went rather quiet, rather fast. For how naturally mothering and worrisome she could be, Mac could be quiet intimidating when she wanted to be.

He loved it.

~8~

"This is the shuttle," a voice came over the radio a short while later, "We're right above you, but we can't get low enough. Gamma static could fry our nav-controls. Sit tight. We'll get to you."

The Doctor fiddled with his sonic as he waited, Mac spending her designated five minutes with the Ganger as they'd had to divide the time so as not to feel jealous over her giving attention to one or the other, and scanned Cleaves to amuse himself.

Amy sighed, watching the monitors like a hawk, "I can't find Rory. I'm going out there."

"We could use the sonic to track him," the Doctor offered, "Humans and Gangers give off slightly different signals. The sonic can tell the difference."

"Oh, so the sonic…"

"WATCH yourself Amy," Mac cut in and Amy fell silent, "Prejudice makes a person look small minded."

"Hey!" Buzz called as a static cleared in a monitor, "There's a camera up. We've got a visual."

"That's Rory and Jennifer!" Amy cheered, rushing over and seeing them walking through the tunnels.

"They're heading for the thermostatic room," Cleaves realized.

"Let's go get them!"

The Doctor, however, remained seated and tossed his sonic to his Ganger, making all of them pause and Cleaves scoff, "We can't let him go. Are you crazy?"

"Am I crazy, Doctor?" the Doctor glanced at the Ganger.

"Well, you did once plumb your brain into the core of an entire planet just to halt its orbit and win a bet with Kenzie."

"It was a JOKE!" Mac huffed, "I didn't mean for you to actually DO it."

"He can't go rescue them," Amy shook her head, holding up her hands when Mac looked at her, "_I'm_ going."

"Do you know," the Doctor stood, looking at Amy, "I want him to go. And I'm rather adamant."

"Well, then," Buzz straightened, "He'll need company, right, boss?" he glanced at Cleaves, "It's fine. I'll handle it."

"Thank you, Buzzer," the Ganger snapped his fingers at Buzz.

"I'll go too," Mac nodded, stepping over to the Ganger.

"No, no," the Doctor reached out to take her arm, "I need you here with me Kenzie."

"And I," the Ganger took her other arm, gently tugging her back, "Need her with me."

"Well she's MY Chosen," the Doctor tugged, starting a small tug of war with Mac in the middle.

"My Chosen as well."

"She was mine first."

"Ours at the same time."

"She likes me better."

"No me!"

"Well who?" the Doctors looked at Mac for an answer.

She blinked, never having expected this to happen, "The Doctor," was all she could answer.

"Which one?"

"Just the Doctor."

"The Doctor Doctor or the Ganger Doctor?" the Doctor eyed her.

"The Doctor," she smirked.

"Brilliant," the Ganger laughed, seeing her trying to prove a point to the humans at the same time, she was saying that she liked them both as much as she liked the Doctor.

"I'll be fine Doctor," she looked at the Doctor, "I SHOULD have gone with Rory to begin with and I didn't. I can make up for that now by finding him."

The Doctor sighed and tugged her closer, the Ganger letting go, sensing he wasn't going to try and steal her away, "Be careful," he whispered, kissing her gently.

Mac rested her forehead to his, "I'M the cautious one remember?"

He smiled, nodding against her head, "Yeah," he breathed, pulling away, "You…" he pointed at the Ganger, "Take care of her."

"With my life," he crossed his hearts.

"Don't worry Amy," Mac looked at her, "We'll find Rory just fine," before she turned to head out with the Ganger and Buzzer.

~8~

"I'm really not sure if I want to know how you knew that," the Ganger muttered as he walked with Mac through the tunnels, Buzz strung over his shoulders, unconscious.

They'd been searching for Jen, and found her, the Original her…but she'd died only a few minutes before they found her. Buzz had very nearly knocked him out with his torch…but Mac had seemed to be expecting it and sprayed him in the face with Cassandra's knockout spray just in time…which meant they now had to lug Buzz along, but at least he was conscious and without any more blows to the head. They really didn't have time to worry about it though as Rory was in grave danger as, if the original Jen was dead, it meant he was wandering about with the Ganger.

Mac shrugged, "Buzz was one of the more hostile one," she remarked, "His Ganger went to attack the Original Cleaves, the original him grabbed a knife on the Ganger Cleaves, and he seemed a bit too keen to come with you, a supposed Ganger. Sort of sent up a red flag he meant to hurt you. And I couldn't let that happen."

He smiled at that, "Always taking care of me eh?"

She glanced at him, "Always and forever," she promised, crossing her hearts.

They slowed though when they heard a faint ringing noise, like a telephone, before they looked at each other and took off after it. They ran down a tunnel and into the dining hall just as Rory, who seemed to be quite angry with the gaggle of Gangers standing in the room, turned to storm off.

"Ah, that'll be the phone!" the Ganger Doctor rushed in, setting Buzz aside and pointing at the Gangers, "No touchy the Buzzy," he warned, before rushing over to sonic the phone, answering it…a hologram of a young boy, not more than 5 years old, popping up before him, "Ha!" he cheered as the automated notice finished, "Hello, Adam, I'm the Doctor. Well, Other Doctor. Or Smith. It's complicated and boring. Anyway, who cares, it's your birthday!"

"Yay!" the little boy cheered as well, still in his pajamas.

"Yay! Now, have you been getting up very early and jumping on the bed?"

"Yes, really high."

"I expect chocolate for breakfast. If you don't feel sick by mid-morning, you're not doing it right."

"Actually don't," Mac got up from sitting Buzz up against the wall, Rory moving to check and make sure he was ok as she made her way over, "Chocolate should be for lunch," she winked at the Ganger Doctor, "A nice big bowl of sugary cereal's the best way to start a special day like this."

"Now," the Ganger Doctor clapped, "I think you want to speak to Dad," he turned and gave Ganger Jimmy a pointed look.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Adam cheered, "Daddy?"

"You'll do, Jimmy," the Ganger Doctor walked over to him, speaking quietly so Adam couldn't hear, "What does the other Jimmy matter now? You're both the same dad, aren't you? Come on, Adam's waiting."

"Daddy?" Adam called, when a quake shook the room, "Daddy, what's that rumbly noise? What's going on, Daddy? Daddy?"

Ganger Jimmy turned and raced out of the room.

"You've tricked him into an act of weakness!" Ganger Jen hissed, glaring at the Doctor.

"Hardly," Mac scoffed, "You want to claim you're real and you're just as human? Try ACTING like it. Act like a human being instead of a paranoid monster."

Ganger Cleaves stiffened at that, Mac's words hitting her, "Dicken, drain the acid well in crypt one," she ordered and Ganger Dicken ran out.

"Don't you dare!" Ganger Jen snarled.

"I've had it with this!" Ganger Cleaves moved in front of her, looking down at her employee, "What's the point in this ridiculous war? Look at you, Jen. You were a sweet kid. Look at you now. Stuff of nightmares. Agent Mackenzie's right, we've started to act like the monsters the others feared us to be. I don't want my world populated by monsters."

"You can't stop the factory from melting down, boss," Ganger Jen nearly spat, "I'll take revenge on humanity with or without you."

"Do you hear yourself?" Mac shook her head at Ganger Jen, "Revenge?"

"It doesn't have to be about revenge," the Ganger Doctor offered, "It can be so much better than that."

But Ganger Jen just hissed at him and stormed out of the room, leaving them alone with Adam's hologram calling out for his father, for quite a few minutes…an alarming amount of time really, till the others arrived. The Doctor, Amy, Rory, Cleaves and Dicken entering with Gangers Jimmy and Dicken…no original Jim in sight.

"Daddy, it's me!" Adam cheered, none the wiser about his father being a Ganger.

Mac frowned and left the two to a private moment, heading over to the Doctor and frowning, "What happened?"

He sighed, "The quakes lessened the integrity of the tower and we had to evac from it," he explained, "We met Rory in the tunnels and he was tricked by Ganger Jen into leading us to an acid room. They locked us in and pulled Rory off…the acid was unstable and…it struck Jimmy just before the Gangers tried to let us out. He died."

Mac nodded slowly, looking up as another quake hit, "We need to get everyone out of here, now."

"Everyone!" he shouted, agreeing with her, "We need to move! Come on!" he turned and led the way out of the room just as Ganger Jimmy finished speaking with his son, the hologram cutting off as he too followed them out, grabbing Buzz on the way, and into the tunnels, the Doctor trying to lead them to the TARDIS.

They had to stop though, and turn the other way when they ran into a rather…misshapen, stretched out-version of Ganger Jen, clearly a mutated version of the Flesh, who began to chase them on all fours like an animal. They ran into a room, slamming the door shut behind them as the roof groaned and creaked.

"Ooh, roof's going to give," the Ganger Doctor ran to just under the creaking, the Dickens trying to lock the door, the Original him rushing off to try and shut a farther door…getting attacked by Ganger Jen in the process and forcing the Doctor and Ganger Cleaves to help Ganger Dicken hold the door shut as it appeared it didn't have a lock on it, "Here she comes!" the Ganger Doctor cried as the TARDIS fell through the ceiling and landed before them.

"Oh, she does like to make an entrance," the Doctor smiled from the door.

Mac ran to the doors of the box and unlocked them with her key, throwing the doors open to allow them all in, "Get in! All of you! Now!" Ganger Dicken and the Original Cleaves rushing in moments after Rory, Ganger Jimmy, and Buzz.

"Now's our chance," Mac looked back to see Amy approaching the Doctor at the door with Ganger Cleaves.

"I have to stay," the Doctor shook his head, "Hold this door closed. Give you time to dematerialize."

"Oh, don't be crazy. Ok, what happens to you?"

"Well, this place is just about to explode. But I can stop her."

"Both of you can survive this, ok!"

The Ganger Doctor slowly stepped up beside Amy, "Or perhaps you think I should stay instead... Mr. Smith?"

"No," Amy swallowed hard, glancing at Mac as the Time Lady stepped up, being careful with what she said and how she said it, "Of course not. But look, this man," she gestured at the Doctor by the door, "I've flown with him, you know? And you are amazing and yeah, I misjudged you, but you're not him. I'm sorry."

"Amy," Mac shook her head, "No matter how long you might know the Doctor…you'll never know him enough."

"I DO," Amy countered, "I DO know him."

"Then explain how you couldn't tell THAT," she nodded at the Doctor by the door, "Was the Ganger, all along?"

"What?" Amy blinked.

"Amy, we swapped shoes," the formerly-Ganger Doctor stated, "_I'm_ the Doctor."

"And I'm the Flesh," the one by the door agreed.

"You can't be," Amy breathed, staring at the one who was now the actual Ganger, "_You're_ the real him."

"He's not Amy," Mac reached out and touched Amy's shoulder, "That has always been the Ganger."

"I'm the original Doctor, Amy," the one by her stepped up as well, "We had to know if we were truly the same. It was important, vital, we learn about the Flesh. And we could only do that through your eyes," he smiled at Mac, "Kenzie understood it too well, had too much past experience with similar substances to see what we needed to see in YOU," he looked back at Amy.

Amy looked between the two a moment before rushing over to hug the Ganger Doctor, the Doctor and Mac knowing she was apologizing for it all and gave them some privacy to have some hushed words.

Rory, however, wasn't quite so privy to that and ran to the doors of the TARDIS, shouting out, "Amy, come on!"

Amy glanced once more at the Ganger Doctor before rushing over to the TARDIS and getting inside, leaving the Doctor and Mac to speak to the Ganger once more.

"Well," the Ganger smiled at them, "My death arrives, I suppose. I'm…glad," he looked at Mac, "That you'll be off before you have to see it."

"Perhaps not quite that soon though," the Doctor whispered, looking at Mac intently, making her look away, realizing he had very much paid attention when Amy had brought up his death. He'd worked it out, what she'd seen that had spooked her so badly in the diner, how she reacted to talk of death and guns and other things for that trip, he knew…he knew that she'd seen him die.

"Pardon?" the Ganger frowned, looking at Mac.

"You'll survive," Mac said, a surety in her voice that the Doctor knew was her own promise to him that she was going to do something, anything, to save him, "Your molecular memory WILL survive this, I know it."

The Doctor tossed him his sonic, "It may not be the end," he agreed, determined that it wouldn't be because the Mac he'd seen in the diner had been devastated…and he would NEVER put her through something like that.

"If I turn up to nick all your biscuits, you'll know you were right," the Ganger winked at her, before looking at his original self, "Get her out of here," he requested, one last request…and it was for her.

The Doctor nodded and took Mac's hand, but she stepped away from him, to his Ganger and kissed his cheek before rushing back to him and allowing him to take her hand and pull her off to the TARDIS, the box disappearing moments later, just as the Gangers turned and dissolved Ganger Jen and themselves.

~8~

It had been a solemn yet…hopeful atmosphere in the TARDIS on the way to Morpeth Jetsan, the owners of the factory. The TARDIS had stabilized the Gangers, making them officially 'real' people. Jimmy had been dropped off back to his son for his birthday with a red balloon care of the Doctor, Cleaves's blood clot that she'd had was removed via a small bit of help from the Doctor as well, and now it was time for Dicken, Cleaves, and Buzz to confront the press, Amy and Rory walking behind the Time Lords.

"You really want us to do this?" Cleaves asked as they walked down the foyer of a large building to where they could hear people chatting on the other side of a door.

"I think you owe it to your Ganger and the others to do it," Mac nodded.

"Your company's telling the world that the situation is over," the Doctor agreed, "You need to get in there and tell them that the situation's only just begun. Make them understand what they're doing to the Flesh. Make them stop. Dicken, remember, people are good. In their bones, truly good. And you, Buzz," he sighed at the man, "The Gangers ARE as real as you are now, don't hate them, will you?"

"I won't," Buzz nodded, glancing at Ganger Dicken, knowing that the man's original self had given his life so his Ganger and all of them could live. That was enough to respect the man's last wishes and respect his Ganger in his place.

"Just keep in mind that good people died because of all of this mess," Mac looked at them, "Honor them and their sacrifices and make your message count."

Cleaves took a breath and looked at her two boys, "Ready?" she stepped up to the door, "Side by side."

"You got it, boss," Ganger Dicken nodded, opening the door for her and allowing her, Buzz, and himself in to the conference.

Amy waited a moment longer but when the Time Lords didn't move, just took each other's hands, she stepped over, "You ok?" she asked them.

The Doctor blinked and shook his head, looking over at her, "I said breathe, Pond, remember? Well, breathe."

"Why?" Amy shook her head.

"We can't do this here," Mac glanced at the Doctor, "Come on," she reached out and gently led Amy back to the TARDIS.

"Doctor what's going on?" Rory called, sensing something was wrong with Amy or might be wrong…she looked fine though.

"Contractions," he said, making his way up to the console, Mac moving past him to go to her end of it, helping get them into the Vortex where the signal should be weaker.

"Contractions?" Rory blinked.

"She's going into labor."

"Did he say..." Amy scoffed, before she shook her head, "No, of course he didn't. Doctor I'm not having contractions."

The Doctor nodded at that, glancing at Mac as she shrugged, and looked back at Amy, "They must be medicating you then."

"What?" Amy nearly laughed at that, "Who's doing what?"

"You'll have to start explaining this to me, Doctor," Rory moved to Amy's side.

"What, the birds and the bees? Rory…" he took a breath, "I'm afraid she's having a baby. Kenzie and I needed to see the Flesh in its early days. That's why I scanned it. That's why we were there in the first place."

"It's why we wanted to drop you off for fish 'n' chips," Mac added moving to come around the console slightly, still behind the Doctor but in view.

"Yes," the Doctor pointed at her, "But things happened and there was stuff and shenanigans. Beautiful word, shenanigans. I needed enough information to block the signal to the Flesh."

"What signal?" Amy frowned.

"The signal to you Amy," Mac told her gently.

"What?" she breathed.

The Doctor pulled his sonic out, "Stand away from her, Rory."

"Why?" Rory moved closer to Amy, "No! And why?!"

"It can be traumatic," Mac told him.

"What can?!"

But the Doctor didn't answer, merely said, "Given what we've learned, I'll be as humane as I can, but I need to do this and you need to stand away!"

Rory looked between them, seeing how solemn they both looked, and slowly stepped away from Amy, far enough that the Doctor seemed ok with it, and near enough where he could rush to her side in an instant if needed.

"Doctor," Amy swallowed, staring at him with wide eyes, "I am frightened. I'm properly, properly scared."

"Don't be," he whispered, stepping closer to her, "Hold on. We're coming for you, I swear it. Whatever happens, however hard, however far, we will find you," he took her hand a moment, squeezing it in promise.

"I'm right here!" she squeezed his hand back, lifting it and clutching it in both of hers.

He pulled away, backing up and onto the steps to the console, "No," he shook his head, "You're not. You haven't been here for a long, long time," he flicked the sonic on and Amy melted into a puddle of white goop.

But the Doctor stiffened, hearing a splash behind him as well and turned to see a second puddle where _Mac_ had been standing and his hearts stopped.

"...Kenzie?"

A/N: BOOM! Twist! ^-^ I really wanted to end it there instead of with Amy and Mac waking up, just to prolong the anticipation of what's going on with Amy and where Mac might be in relation to Amy for the next chapter :)

That was the one thing that had me _really_ torn about whether to make a Ganger for Mac. I sort of feel like, with her already being a Ganger, she couldn't really make a Ganger of herself. I know Ganger Jen did, but with the time they had and without intending to make a 'second' Ganger, I didn't think the Flesh would react to Mac as she already was one. It's why her reaction to the Flesh at first was gentler than the Doctor's ;)

I can say though that I have plans for a few TLs in the future to appear in double for these episodes ;)

SO excited for the next chapter! ^-^

Apologies for this one though :( This is shaping up to be a bad fortnight for me with internet and family issues and updating :( I set my alarm each night and I hit PM instead of AM :( Stupid move on my part :( I won't let it happen again though ;)

Some notes on reviews...

We'll probably see bits and key moments of the Time War through flashbacks and Recollections for Proffy, so I don't think I'd write a whole story for it as it would pretty much tell itself through those :)

We'll have to wait and see what Mac and the Doctor are to River ;) I wanted to make Mac a Ganger, I REALLY did, but with her already being a Ganger I wasn't sure that would work. I know Ganger Jen made a second one, but I'm assuming it might have been lingering DNA or something like...she was the last true Ganger made so it still had her DNA and other things in record to make another :)

The Doctor wasn't really hiding the scanner from her, more like he was a child being caught with his hand in the cookie jar and realizing he hadn't told Mac about the scans lol :) He can be so absent minded at times :) But up, Mac was a Ganger too ;)

If you mean what about writing a Castle/OC story, Castle's actually on my profile in the list of potential OC stories ;)

Lol, oh I know there are drugs that can prolong (as equally as shorten) a pregnancy ;) But I can say for THIS story...Amy really was NOT pregnant when Mac scanned her after America, we'll find out just when she was captured (and when Mac was captured) in the next chapter ;)


	10. A Good Man Goes to War

A Good Man Goes to War

Mac sat in a small chair, a small bundle in her arms, a baby girl.

HER baby girl.

She and the Doctor had a daughter.

She never…she didn't think…even now, a month later she still couldn't reconcile that notion that the girl in her arms was her DAUGHTER. She'd woken in a harness in a room, a white sort of cell where she was lying on her back the entire time. When she looked up, bending her head back as far as it could go she could see someone else's red hair, Amy's…and a rather large pregnant belly. It just…it made NO sense to her to see Amy like that. Amy and Rory KNEW NOT to do anything like that in the TARDIS, to come to her or the Doctor the MINUTE they found out they were pregnant so they could be dropped off and avoid the background radiation affecting the child…she had even run a scan on Amy herself just after she'd gotten her, Rory, and River back in America, she'd most certainly NOT been pregnant then either.

It had left her to think only one thing…that Kovarian, the eye-patch woman that Amy had been seeing, had done something to her, as she thought when the Doctor showed her the positive/negative pregnancy scan. She had worked out when Amy had been taken, when they'd both been seized in the orphanage, they'd replaced Amy with a Ganger…but why?

They'd already had HER, why take a human?

And then she found out. SHE had been taken in UNIT, the door she'd thought was just drifting open…there had likely been a Silent standing in it which was why it was closed one moment, open the next and why, just after peering into the hall and shutting the door she'd completely disregarded the reason she'd gone to her office in the first place and went to look up the Doctor, to 'find' him. She'd been taken in UNIT and Kovarian had implemented her plan to obtain a Time Lord infant, a Time Baby so to speak, to raise herself for some reason she wasn't sure of. But, for all her preparation and hard work in obtaining the Doctor's DNA to help create the embryo…SHE couldn't carry the baby. Kovarian hadn't been counting on the fact that she couldn't sustain a pregnancy. It had taken the woman months of planning and testing…3 months to be exact, the same amount of time the others had been running around America looking for the Silence.

When Kovarian had realized that small detail…she'd improvised. She'd been about to replace the Ganger she'd been with the original, swap it back but now with her DNA to use…when they'd found her with Amy in the little girl's room…and an epiphany had hit the woman. Use AMY instead, as a surrogate. It was why Amy hadn't been classified as pregnant till after they'd been returned to her. They'd been in the Silence hold for a few days, long enough for them to implant Amy and replace her as well.

They'd kept both Gangers with the Doctor as they knew that, if anything went wrong with the birth, SHE would be the only Time Lady around that knew what was happening. Luckily nothing had happened. Amy had been unconscious despite the connection to the Ganger being broken, as the Doctor guessed she'd been medicated, knocked out and kept asleep through the duration of the cesarean section they'd preformed to get the baby out without risking the dangers of birth. Amy had awoken a day or so later with a light scar on her stomach that seemed to be healing into nothing and a bit of a bigger stomach as well, much like other women who gave birth.

Amy had been scared and confused and very, VERY alarmed and disturbed about what had been done to her. That her womb had been used for rent basically, to hold a child that wasn't hers without her permission. It disturbed Mac as well to think of what Kovarian had done without Amy's consent or knowledge. It was disgusting and she'd apologized profusely to Amy for it. Eventually though, after the month they both got to spend with the baby…Amy had been able to come to terms with what happened to her. Amy had admitted quietly to Mac that if she and the Doctor had ever asked…she would have gladly been a surrogate and THAT was the ONLY way she was dealing with it all, to keep in mind she would have done it if asked, that it wasn't some weird mutant baby in her, it was her best friends' child, a child they never would have been able to have and, to be able to help them have a child, one that she knew they both desperately wanted, that was enough for her…the baby was adorable too and that helped, calling her AUNT Amy and NOT anything more familiar than that had helped her too.

Amy had no memory of the pregnancy at all, nothing, not even the birth as she'd been sedated. She'd had no time or knowledge to build any sort of attachment to the baby at all nor did she think of it as hers. Biologically it was the Doctor and Mac's, completely 100% pure Time Lord. To Amy she literally woke up with a bit of a flabby stomach and that was ALL she felt so, in a way, it was a little easier for her to push it to the back of her mind and ignore the fact she'd apparently carried a Time Baby for months. To her, she woke up and her best friend had a baby in her arms, and that was all she tried to think of when the subject of the little one was brought up.

Mac had given her a name, one she wanted to run past the Doctor for as it really was his daughter too, but all she'd told Amy was that she couldn't say what the name was in Gallifreyan, so she'd given a translation, 'musical waves,' her favorite sound on Gallifrey. For now, they called her 'little one' merely because every nickname Amy gave, at least 2 a day, never really fit the little girl and the girl was quite vocal about it too, which made Amy laugh to hear that Mac spoke Baby. The girl adored her Gallifreyan name though and wanted to meet her father. Still, there was no nickname just yet and Mac wanted to make sure her real and proper name was acceptable first before trying to give her something else.

Mac looked up as she bobbed her daughter in her arms, seeing Kovarian standing at the end of the room with a few soldiers beside her, some on the stairs behind her as well with 2 Headless Monks. Amy wasn't there, they were held in two separate rooms until Kovarian decided they could spend a few hours together, though there was always a guard there to make sure they weren't plotting anything.

"_Seems to be our lives doesn't it?_" she murmured to the baby in Gallifreyan, knowing the girl would understand her despite the TARDIS not being there. Gallifreyan was an innate language to be spoken and understood to Time Lords, it was Old High Gallifreyan that was a little trickier and had to be taught, "_Danger and running and complicated space/time events,_" she swallowed hard, looking at the girl, "_They're going to try and take you away from me. And I can't promise that I'll be able to stop them. I'll try, I will fight, as hard as I can to keep you,_" she smiled, the girl really was a miracle, there was no record of a human ever acting as a surrogate for a Time Lord before, they had no idea it could be done, NOT that she wanted it to happen that way. It was why she'd refused many options open to her and her husband on Gallifrey…SHE wanted to carry her baby and give birth to it, she didn't want to clone it or test-tube it or surrogate it, but this…this hadn't been her choice, this had been something out of her hands and while she didn't wish for this to happen, she had a daughter now and she would care for her no matter what, "_So you need to be brave and strong, just like your dad…_"

"Two minutes," Kovarian cut in.

Mac glared at her, before looking at her daughter as she cooed, asking what was wrong, "Nothing sweetie," she whispered in English, reassuring her daughter, before reverting to Gallifreyan again, not wanting Kovarian to understand what was being said, "_Your dad's an expert runner, you know. I bet, even now, he's running across the stars to find us,_" she could imagine it, him facing down Cybermen and Sontarans and Judoon and Daleks just to try and find out where they were, demanding they tell him what they knew of who took his Chosen.

Ooh this was all backwards wasn't it? They'd had a date before they'd even been together. They they'd been Chosens before they were really truly that deeply in love, or at least before they were willing to admit it. Now they had a child together! They hadn't even been with each other in that sense since they'd married other people! All that was left was for them to have somehow gotten married in the middle of all that for it to be completely out of order.

But still…looking at the girl starting to fall asleep in her arms…she couldn't regret a moment of that, not if it led to this bundle in her arms, "_And he will,_" she continued, "_He'll find us and he'll steal us away. He's a bit of a thief. He'll find a way to sneak in, even through all of that,_" she glanced at a small window in the wall through which she could see an army in a base hanger, Demons Run the base was called, an asteroid base. She took a breath and looked back at the girl, "_Time Lords are…dangerous creatures when you attack the things they love most, something not many people would think but it's true. Your father will be coming for us, and heaven help the ones who get in his way,_" she smiled at her daughter, "_Heaven help them run from ME if they try to hurt you,_" she promised, kissing the girl's head, "_I love you Merina,_" she closed her eyes and held her daughter close, Merina in Gallifreyan, musical waves it meant, she hoped the Doctor would like it.

"Time's up," Kovarian smirked, stepping over to her as Mac stood quickly and backed away, Merina in her arms.

"Don't you dare!" she shouted, "Stay away! Stay back!" she kicked at one of the men approaching her, but there was nothing within reach that she could use to defend herself. She'd woken up in white trousers and a white shirt with boots on, her cardigan and all her objects in it just…gone, somewhere in the facility probably, "Don't touch her! Let go!" she started to struggle as two men grabbed her arms and tugged at her, Kovarian grabbing the baby out of her arms, "No!" she tried kicking out, tried struggling and squirming and twisting…until she felt something jab into her neck and her world went black.

The last thing she saw before she fell unconscious…was Kovarian in the doorway, smirking back at her, Merina in her arms.

~8~

River swayed down the halls of Stormcage, dressed in a late Victorian styled dress, humming to herself despite the alarms blaring and the phone ringing on the wall. She rolled her eyes and moved over to the phone, picking it up, "Oh, turn it off. I'm breaking in, not out. This is River Song, back in her cell...oh, and I'll take breakfast at the usual time. Thank you!" she hung up with a chuckle, gliding on, her hand in her muffs, dressed for winter…when she saw someone standing in the shadows, "Hello."

"Hello River," the Doctor stepped out of it.

River's eyes widened at the state he was in. His eyes were bloodshot, bags under them, his tie undone and hanging around his neck, his hands in his pockets, his coat with a few singes and holes in them. His pants were dirty at the bottom with a few tears in them as well, he looked pale and exhausted, "Doctor what happened to you?!"

"I'm going to ask you questions River," he began, "And I need you to be as honest with me as you possibly can, understood?"

River swallowed hard but nodded.

"Good, right then…where were you?" he nodded at her empty cell.

She smiled, "Where else would I be?" she shrugged, "With you and Mackenzie, you too me ice skating on the River Thames in 1814, the last of the great frost fairs, and got Stevie Wonder to sing happy Birthday for me under London Bridge."

"It's your birthday?" the Doctor blinked.

She nodded, seeming sad that he had to ask that, "Yes."

"And Kenzie was with you?"

"Yes."

He let out a breath of relief at that, HE had no memory of that event, so it hadn't happened yet, which meant Mac was with him in the future, he got her back.

"Doctor…what's wrong?" River eyed him.

"Can't you guess?" he asked, almost bitterly, "You're my future, you always know."

River nodded slowly, "Demons Run."

He nodded as well, "They've taken Kenzie, and Amy, and…" he shook his head, "There's something about a baby. Amy may or may not be pregnant, I think she is, but Kenzie ran a scan and she wasn't before she got replaced with the Ganger and she and Rory didn't have time to do anything and for that to work they had to have done something to Amy and now Rory doesn't even know if he's the father or if the baby's even human or if it's even alive and I don't know why they took both Kenzie and Amy and…"

He blinked when RIVER made the 'stop talking' motion to quiet him down.

"I'm sorry Doctor," she whispered, "I wish I could tell you more but I can't…and I can't help you. I know," she added, "I know that you've got to get Strax and Vastra and a few other friends of yours…but I can't go with you."

"Why now?" he frowned.

"This is The Battle of Demons Run. Your darkest hour," she swallowed hard, "You'll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further. And...I can't be with you or Mackenzie till the very end. I can say you'll find Amy and Mackenzie, you may find more than you bargain for as well."

The Doctor watched as she turned and headed back into her cell, "Will we find out who YOU are?"

She smirked, "Spoilers."

~8~

Mac was in the nursery room of the base, the stark white room that had essentially become her room as she refused to leave her daughter without being dragged out kicking and screaming and biting. Her arms were around her stomach as she sat in the small chair she'd held her daughter in, not able to bring herself to look through the window at the base. She knew Kovarian's right-hand man was giving a speech to rally the troops to attack the Doctor. She knew what she was, she and Amy were bait. Kovarian thought she could lure him there and attack him…but she forgot one very important thing…

The Doctor didn't know he had a child. And if he did…Kovarian would be running far FAR away from the base and trying to make up for everything to the Doctor, begging for mercy when he came after her.

And she was determined to make sure he found out about their daughter the moment he arrived.

She looked over when she saw the doors to the room opening, one of the soldiers, a young woman, entering, "Sorry," the girl hesitated, slowly making her way in and down the stairs towards her, "I shouldn't be here, I'm meant to be at the thing. I brought you something," she held up a small scrap of olive green fabric, "Your child's name, in the language of my people," it was like a little start with gold stitching, "I…I know it's not her exact name, you haven't told anyone it. The others still call her the Time Child," she tried to smile but Mac just fixed her with a firm look, "It's a translation of it, I um…I overheard you telling your other friend what the child's name meant, and…this was as close as I could manage," she held the fabric to her, "It's a prayer leaf and we believe, if you…"

"Keep it with me, my daughter will come home," Mac finished for her, "I know. I know about the Gamma Forest and your traditions."

"Have you been there yet?" the girl asked, "I mean…I met you and the Doctor once, but I know he can travel in time so…I wasn't sure if you'd been there yet or…"

"No," Mac sighed, "We haven't, not yet."

The girl nodded, "I'm Lorna," she offered, "I already know who you are."

Mac nodded, wincing as she heard a cheer go up in the hanger, "They're cheering for the fact that they're going to try and kill one of the best men in the Universe."

"I know," Lorna whispered, "I didn't mean to be here," she admitted, "I um...I only joined the Clerics to try and meet you two again."

"Because 'Doctor' means 'Mighty Warrior' to your people?" Mac guessed.

"Yes," Lorna nodded, "You know, if it's any consolation, I don't think they'll succeed in killing him."

"No?" Mac looked at her, they'd already taken her daughter…if they took her Chosen too…she didn't know what she'd do.

"He's got too much to live for," Lorna smiled, "Doesn't he?"

Mac looked up at her, "Thank you," she reached out to take the Prayer Leaf, "Lorna," she called as the girl turned to go, "Don't…get caught among them," she warned, "Time Lords don't take kindly to those who they perceive as a threat to their families…even more so when children are involved."

Lorna nodded and left the room.

Mac glanced at the window, hearing another cheer before looking away, tears in her eyes. There was literally NOTHING in that room she could use to get out of there. Kovarian seemed to know about her talent for making things out of smaller pieces and had removed everything but her chair, which was bolted to the ground, and the small cot her daughter had slept in…also bolted to the counter, everything else was bare. She closed her eyes and pressed her hands to her ears, not wanting to hear Manton talking about what they'd do to the Doctor, how he'd fall. She'd heard mention of the Headless Monks, heard something about revealing what they looked like but she knew, a knotted stump where a neck should be instead of a head. What else would HEADLESS Monks be but truly headless?

However, her eyes flew open when she heard someone who did NOT sound like Manton shout, "Surprised!" and she leapt to her feet, recognizing that voice.

"Doctor!" she shouted, banging on the window when she saw him, dressed in a Monk's robes, standing on a platform just beside Manton, having snuck in.

He couldn't seem to hear her from down there, but he could see her, she could see him wink at her from where he was before he addressed the soldiers, "Hello everyone! Guess who! Please point a gun at me if it helps you relax."

"Oh Merina," she murmured, "I hope you don't inherit THAT aspect of your father."

Though the Doctor seemed unperturbed when the humans aimed their guns at him, the Monks pulling their electrified swords, "You're only human."

"Doctor," Manton stepped up, aiming his gun at the Doctor, "You will come with me, right now!"

"Three minutes, forty seconds. Kenzie dear!" he called, looking up at her, "Get your coat!" before he pulled his hood back down, just as the lights went out, "I'm not a phantom," his voice began to echo through the room and, had the humans had enough sense to look, they would have seen Mac's gaze follow her sensation of the Doctor through the dark to where he was heading, "I'm not a trickster. I'm a monk."

"Doctor, show yourself!" Manton demanded.

Mac winced when one of the poor soldiers got spooked and fired at one of the Monks, causing the others to aim their guns at the Monks as well, the Monks moving on the defensive and raising their swords to the humans. She could see Manton trying to calm them as a Monk fired back, the two sides starting to fight as he desperately tried to keep peace, resorting to finally disarming his weapon in a show of 'good faith' to the Monks. Mac smiled, realizing what the Doctor had done, the only way the Monks would feel safe and not threatened would be if all the weapons aimed at them were neutralized, and, when that happened, the humans would be defenseless, which would give him time for (she hoped) any allies he'd brought with him to surround them.

She had to admit she couldn't bring herself to feel an iota of sorrow for them when, amidst shouting 'we are not fools!' they ended up as she thought, surrounded by the Doctor's Silurian army, a few Judoon coming, along with a Sontaran she felt might be Strax, one they'd met on a previous adventure, all of them armed, all of them aiming it at the humans, forcing them to raise their hand. Strax seemed to be taking great pleasure in getting Manton to raise his hands as well.

"This base is now under our command!" Strax decreed.

"I have a fleet out there!" Manton shouted, "If Demons Run goes down, there's an automatic distress call!"

"Not if we knock out your communications array," the lights came back on and the Doctor was revealed to be standing on a raised platform that over looked the hanger, "And you've got incoming!"

"Danny Boy to the Doctor!" Winston's spitfires called over the comms., "Danny Boy to the Doctor."

"Give 'em hell, Danny Boy!" he shouted, cheering and laughing as the planes took out the comm. units of the base. He looked across the base, to Mac, as Manton surrendered, a wide grin on his face though it froze when he saw the solemn look on her face even from there

'_What is it?_' he asked her quietly in her mind.

And then he froze, his face dropping from a beaming one to shocked to murderous as his gaze turned to glare at Manton for what Mac had just told him about a third Time Lord that was on the base.

~8~

Mac spun around a short while later, having been pacing the room when she saw the Doctor run off…well, more like stalk off, after Manton as he was pulled away, stopping to speak to Rory who was dressed as a Centurion, before continuing. For one brief moment she thought it might be Kovarian coming back to use her as more bait or as a shield…but then she heard the whirring of the sonic…

"Doctor?" she called hesitantly.

"Um, no, actually," Rory answered, "Just…just hold on a minute."

"Rory no!" Mac rushed over to the door, "Don't worry about getting me out, Kovarian has a child, a baby…" she swallowed hard, "MY baby…"

The doors opened and Rory was standing there, a baby girl in his arms, "I know," he smiled at her, "She's beautiful Mac," he told her, stepping in and handing her the child, "Sort of worked it out whose she was. I um…I thought, when the Doctor said Amy was pregnant that…that it couldn't be mine but I KNOW Amy wouldn't do that to me now and…when the Doctor said that Amy wasn't pregnant before she was taken by the Silence I figured maybe it was something like this," he gestured at the two Time Lords, "Looking at her now?" he smiled at the baby as she yawned and opened her eyes, "Tuft of ginger hair but the DOCTOR's eyes?" he shook his head, "Had to be the two of yours."

"Thank you Rory," Mac breathed, tears of thanks in her eyes.

"I checked on her too," he added, "She's just fine."

"Amy is too," she offered, "She's two doors down," she added, "They kept us separate for the most part."

Rory nodded and turned to rush off, Mac stepping into the hall to watch him go, smiling when she saw a hand reach out and grab Rory before he was pulled into the room by Amy.

"Kenzie!" she spun around, hearing the Doctor's voice and saw him slide around a corner. He stilled, staring wide eyed at her, at the baby in her arms already sucking on its thumb as she swayed her. He took a few steps closer looking between her and the baby before stopping on the child as he stepped just before her, "Is that…"

Mac nodded, "OUR daughter," she whispered, her voice breaking with emotion as she looked at the little girl, seeing the Doctor just…staring at her before she stepped even closer, gently passing her into his arms, the man cradling her as though she were the most precious thing in the world, which she really was. She smiled, wiping away her tears as she saw him count her fingers and toes.

"What's her name?" he breathed.

"I um…I was thinking Merina," she murmured.

He nodded, smiling, "Musical waves," he looked at her, "Your favorite sound."

"Is that ok?" she asked.

"It's perfect," he leaned in and kissed her, the baby between them, resting his head to her forehead when he pulled away, "She's perfect. Which makes sense."

"How so?" she looked at him, still resting her head to his.

"YOU are perfect," he winked at her, before pulling away to look at the baby, his daughter, "Hello Merina," he reached out and took her hand, feeling his breath catch when he saw HIS eyes staring back at him, it really WAS his child wasn't it. Not that he doubted it. Not at all, if they wanted a Time Lord and they had access to the DNA…it would be a pure Time Lord, "Hello, I'm…" he felt his breath leave him as she gurgled and looked at Mac, "She knows me."

"I talked about you A LOT," she said, "Her favorite stories are about her daddy."

He looked at the girl, still so in shock that she was really THEIRS. When he'd been in Area 51, as a prisoner, Canton had had to maintain an illusion of studying him. He'd managed to get it where he wasn't dissected, but Canton HAD taken some samples of him. The man SWORE on everything that mattered to him, on the life of the one he loved, that he had disposed of the samples…

But it seemed now that the Silence had gotten to him between them, made him think that he had gotten rid of it.

Kovarian had had Mac, and his DNA, enough to make a child it seemed. But he knew that was ONLY as much as she had. She might have had Mac there…but HIS DNA was limited, there was only just enough for ONE child…THIS child.

"Yes," he laughed as the girl wiggled, "Your mum smells wonderful and you, my dear," he sniffed the baby, trying his best not to grimace, "Need a change."

"In here," Mac nodded to the nursery room as the Doctor whipped out cloth and wipes from his pocket, seeming to have come prepared when he realized there was a chance a baby would be there. She led him over to a small counter space where he could change his daughters nappy, Mac standing to the side, knowing even something so small like that would mean the world to him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her as he worked, "That we were so long. Rory um…he was a rather big voice of reason though I MAY have taken a leaf out of your book at times…"

"And duct taped his mouth shut?" she guessed.

"Maybe," he nodded, "Probably. Yes."

"Poor Rory."

"Poor Rory?" he huffed playfully, "Poor ME! It was all, 'No Doctor you can't blow up the Cybermen.' And, 'No Doctor you can't attach a machine gun to the outsides of the TARDIS.' And, 'No Doctor you can't go behead yourself to try and fit in with the Headless Monks…'"

"Well I'm glad about that last one," Mac chuckled, leaning in to give him a kiss, "I missed you," she told him quietly, "I knew you were coming, but I missed you."

"I missed you more," he winked at her, when Merina gurgled, making him chuckle and pick his daughter up, now all clean and in her little new nappy, "I'm glad you missed me too," he smiled at his daughter, tweaking his bowtie, "And I'm glad you like it."

"Doctor?" Vastra's voice called as she entered the room, smiling when she saw the small Time family, "Take a look," she told them, nodding at the window, "They're leaving," the two turned there, watching as the soldiers were marched away by the Silurians.

The Doctor smirked at that, he hadn't wanted to deal with Kovarian or Manton once Mac had told him that the baby he'd scanned…was THEIRS. But he had to, he'd had to confront them and make sure they stayed the bloody hell away from his family. So he'd dealt with them quickly and run through the halls to try and find her.

"Demons Run is ours without a drop of blood spilled," Vastra smiled, "My friend, you have never risen higher!"

The Doctor's smile started to fade at that, recalling River's words.

~8~

Mac laughed as she bobbed Merina in her arms, heading out of the TARDIS and into the hanger of Demons Run, the baby kept demanding Strax because he looked funny and talked funny. She didn't know why the girl thought he was so funny given she'd been held by a woman with an eye patch and rescued by lizards, rhinos, and baked potatoes, but she wasn't going to deny her daughter that.

"Hey," Amy moved over to her from where she was standing with Rory, seeing her with Merina, "Everything ok?"

It had freaked her out severely to wake up with a scar on her slightly larger stomach and realize she'd carried a baby she had no knowledge of but she'd managed to talk her mind into a state where it 'almost' didn't happen because she had no memory of it and tried to convince herself that, because she would willingly do it for Mac and the Doctor if she'd been aware of it, that it wasn't quite so disturbing…it was the only way she could cope with it all.

"Just fine," Mac nodded, "She wants to see 'Straxie' as she calls him, she thinks he's funny."

"Don't let the Doctor hear her say that," Amy warned playfully, "Heaven forbid his daughter thinks someone else is funny."

"Rory!" Jenny, the lizard woman Vastra's maid called as she headed over, "The Judoon have escorted the Clerics out of the quadrant, Spitfires have returned to their own time, and Captain Avery and his men...is she alright?" Jenny blinked as Merina waved her arms at Strax.

"You amuse her Strax," Mac told him.

"Which is bad!" the Doctor called, rushing out of the TARDIS with a small wooden, purple cot, "We'll never get her to bed if you overexcite her."

"Um, Doctor she's YOUR daughter," Rory reminded him, "Makes her naturally overexcited doesn't it?"

"Your cot," Mac murmured as he placed it down, recognizing it from times she'd visit his house. His mother had a permanent nursery as she often baby sat for him and his siblings and their children, it was the cot he and his siblings had shared when they were born.

"Give her here," he smiled, gently taking his daughter, and placed her in the cot, "Hey!"

"Doctor!" Vastra called over the comms., "We need you in the main control room."

"Be right there!" he shouted back, before turning to Mac, "I want you to stay here," he told her, "Close to the TARDIS. If anything happens, you get her into the TARDIS, ok?" he leaned in and kissed her head, "I'm going to try and work out why they wanted her in the first place. I can't rest till I know if you're both safe."

Mac nodded and he turned to head off, leaving her with the Ponds and her rescue team.

"It's so weird," Amy murmured, "All that time I thought I was on the TARDIS…I, we, were here."

"It's like with the Gangers," Mac looked at her, "We really were there in mind and spirit, just not physically."

"Why did I see Kovarian looking at me and not you?"

"Time Lord minds are stronger?" she shrugged, "She checked on you more often? I don't know Amy. It could even be a result of the crack in your wall."

"But that means they were projecting a control signal right into the TARDIS," Rory frowned, "Wherever we were in time and space."

"It does," Mac nodded, looking at her daughter, drawing Amy and Rory's attention to her as well.

"But why did they want her?" Amy asked.

"I don't know," she stepped closer to the baby and pulled Lorna's Prayer Leaf out of her pocket, placing it down on the baby's small blanket as she slept.

"What's that?" Rory asked.

"A Prayer Leaf," she smiled, "One of the soldiers gave it to me for luck. You write the name of your child on it and it's meant to help them find their way home."

"So that's got her real actual name on there!?" Amy's eyes widened, looking at the odd stitching.

"No," Mac laughed, "No, just the translation of it."

"So it says musical waves?" Rory frowned, recalling Amy telling him that was what the girl's name meant.

"Near enough," she shrugged, reaching out to trace the stitching on the one side of the Leaf, "It's in the language of the Gamma Forest and they don't have a word for waves. They've never seen the ocean, or a lake even. The only water in the For…" she cut herself off suddenly.

"Mac?" Amy looked at her, concerned.

"What is it?" Rory asked.

Mac swallowed hard, a thought hitting her, "The only water in the Forest is the RIVER," she reached out and gently turned the Leaf over, her hearts stopping when she saw the word on the other side, leaving her so shocked she didn't even hear Lorna sneak up behind her or Strax order her to drop her weapons…she didn't hear anything else of what they said really as she stared at the Leaf and the child within the cot…her hearts breaking to realize what that meant…

~8~

The Doctor strode into the communication room, seeing Dorium, a large blue alien, and Vastra, the Silurian, already there, "You've hacked into their software then?" he asked, getting right to the point, the sooner this was over the sooner he could get to Mac and Merina.

"I believe I sold it to them," Dorium remarked, at the computer, bringing up information.

"So what have we learned?"

"That anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake," Vastra smiled at him.

He blinked, "I'm sorry?"

"The words of an old friend who once found me in the London Underground, attempting to avenge my sisters on perfectly innocent tunnel diggers."

"Well...you were very cross at the time," he smiled, "And I knew what anger could do to someone," that had been during his last self, with the rather bitter Mac, he'd wanted to spare anyone the sorrow and anger she felt.

"As you were today, old friend. Point taken, I hope?" she nodded as he accepted her words of warning.

"They've been scanning her since she was born," Dorium called, bringing up the results of all the scans, "Observing her mother as well."

"How did this even happen Doctor?" Vastra looked at him, "Last I recall, Mackenzie could not have children."

"Just because she couldn't carry a baby didn't mean everything was bad in her," the Doctor sighed, her eggs survived, they were fine, but everything else that was needed for a baby had been too badly damaged, "They had her DNA and my DNA, they're advanced enough to not need the…little swimmy things to make a baby," he shrugged, "I think they tested Kenzie and realized she couldn't conceive a child…so they took Amy as a surrogate."

"So she IS your child then?"

"Yes," he smiled, "My daughter."

"Does it not bother anyone else that they went through such trouble to create her…and yet they gave in so easily to losing her?" Dorium spun around to face them, "There's something wrong here."

"Why DID they want her?" the Doctor looked at them, "Are there any mentions of their plans for her?" he looked at Dorium, "What could they possibly need a brand new Time Lord for?"

Vastra was quiet a moment, "A weapon?"

"Why would a Time Lord be a weapon?" he shook his head.

"Well...they've seen you."

He stared at her, "…me?" he looked down, feeling as though he'd been punched in the gut before he fell back down on a chair, stunned.

"Mr. Maldovar, you're right," Vastra turned to him, "This was too easy. We should get back to the others."

"Me?" the Doctor repeated, Vastra and Dorium leaving, giving him time to sort his thoughts out. He looked ahead, at the wall before him, feeling his breath catch in his throat as he thought of the little girl in the astronaut suit…what River said about the suit and her, how she couldn't be human despite the tech in it, how she was strong and running away…just like him.

"I see you accessed our files," a voice said behind him, making him jump and turn to see Kovarian's image had flickered onto the screen behind him, "Do you understand yet? Oh, don't worry, I'm a long way away. But I like to keep tabs on you. Your child then...what do you think?"

"Why did you make her?" he shook his head, "What point was there?"

"To give us hope," Kovarian glared, "Hope in this endless, bitter war."

"What war? Against who?"

"Against you, Doctor," she smirked, "Your child will be the end of you, the ultimate weapon…"

"Children are NOT weapons!" he nearly snarled, slamming his hand down on the controls.

"On the contrary Doctor, they're the best ones," Kovarian shook her head, "Give us time. She can be. She will be."

"Except you've already lost her," he started to smirk, "And I swear I will never let you anywhere near her again."

"Oh, Doctor," Kovarian started to laugh, "Fooling you once was a joy...but fooling you twice, the _same_ way, it's a _privilege_."

The Doctor frowned for only a moment, confused by her words, before his eyes widened and he turned, racing out of the room, "KENZIE!" he cried, calling to her in both his head with his voice, "KENZIE!"

~8~

Mac was panting, trembling as she hid behind a crate, Merina in her arms, Amy hiding somewhere else with a similar bundle in her arms, trying to trick the Headless Monks that had surrounded them to buy her more time for the Doctor to get there and help. She was sure she could think of something herself, with all the debris and boxes and items around her, she SHOULD have been able to work out some device to use…but her mind was a mess.

The shock of the Prayer Leaf, the horrible realization of who her daughter was, of what would happen to her, of the attack and the TARDIS being shielded by a force field, keeping them from entering to safety, knowing the Headless Monks had likely come to kill them all and take her baby away…

She couldn't focus, she couldn't focus on anything but trying to keep her daughter calm as the fight went on, the Monks against the others, all of them trying to fight to protect her and the child. She closed her eyes a moment, rocking Merina in her arms…murmuring an ancient Gallifreyan lullaby to her.

"It's alright sweetie," she whispered, rubbing her back, "It'll be alright."

Her breath caught in her throat as, right in her arms…Merina turned into a puddle of Flesh, "No…" she breathed, shaking her head, "No. No. No, no, no, no, no. Not again, not again...please. DOCTOR!" she screamed, her hand shaking as she held the small cloth Merina had been wrapped in.

But Merina was gone…

~8~

The Doctor burst into the hanger of the base with a frantic cry of, "Kenzie, the baby's a Ganger! Kenzie!" only to stop short when he saw her sitting on a small crate, staring at the ground, pale and shaking, Amy and Lorna beside her, Rory tending to Strax as the Sontaran laid on the ground, dying, Vastra and Jenny off to the side, quietly conversing, "Kenzie!" he rushed over to her, crouching before her and taking her hands when he saw the defeated, sorrowful look in her eyes as she just stared at the ground before her.

"It's a sign, isn't it?" she murmured, tears in her eyes, "I should have realized after Teddy…"

"What is?" he shook his head.

Her eyes flickered up to him, "I'm really not meant to have children," she voice broke as she started to cry, "I lost my first, my second was shot, my third was taken…" she closed her eyes and shook her head, "I couldn't protect them."

The Doctor moved up, Amy getting off the crate to allow him to sit beside her, pulling her into his arms as she cried, rocking her side to side, "You are the best mother in the Universe," he told her, feeling tears in his own eyes, he took a breath, "I failed as a father too."

"No," she shook her head, "Your children lived…"

"She was my daughter too," he murmured, "Teddy as good as my son and that little one, that first one…should have been mine," he admitted, "I never would have left you alone, I'd have been there, we'd have saved it, together," he pulled back to look at her, touching her cheek, "Teddy survived, you told me what River said, he's alive and he's out there. So is our daughter, we'll find her, we'll save her, together. I swear it," he crossed his hearts, "We will NOT give up."

Mac took a deep breath, "It's too late," she told him.

"No, it's not," he countered, "We know they took her to Earth, to hide her from us, we can start there and…"

"No," she cut in, "It really is too late."

"Kenzie…"

"You don't understand," she shook her head, "Our daughter is…"

Before she could finish there was a bright flash of light and a clap of air, and River appeared, standing before them, dressed as she had been during their time in America, "Well, then, soldiers," she smiled at them softly, "How goes the day?"

The Doctor glared at her, standing up to stride over to her, "Where the hell have you…"

"_Theta,_" Mac called in Gallifreyan, standing up and moving over to him. She put her hand on his arm, giving him a look for a moment before moving past him to stand before River, looking at the woman intently, her eyes searching River's, feeling the tears about to spill over.

River seemed to know what she was searching for and nodded.

Mac enveloped her in a tight hug, crying even more as she held the woman tightly, the only thing echoing in her mind was the Library, what it meant for them and River now that she knew, now that she understood.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to River, pulling back to cup the woman's cheeks in her hands, seeing tears in River's eyes as well, happy and relieved tears that she knew who the woman was now, "I'm so sorry…"

"It's not your fault," River told her, echoing the words that had been said in Stormcage, "I don't blame you. NONE of this was your fault."

Mac just hugged her tightly once more, River squeezing her just as much.

"I…I don't understand," the Doctor looked between them, "Kenzie…what's going on?" he knew something had happened, something had changed. The way Mac looked at River now, the way she held the woman, spoke to her…it was different.

"I'm sorry Doctor," River looked at him, "They were afraid," she explained, "Of you. Look around you. When you began, all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you'd become this?" she gestured around, "The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name? Doctor, the word for healer and wise man throughout the universe…we get that word from you, you know. But you must stop carrying on the way you are or that name might come to mean something else, like 'might warrior' to those of the Gamma Forest. They've taken your child to to turn her into a weapon, just to bring you down. All because of fear."

The Doctor looked at her, sensing something different about how she was speaking to him, "Who are you?" he breathed.

"I tried to tell you," Mac murmured, moving over to him, pulling the Prayer Leaf out of her pocket and handing it to him, "It's Lorna's translation of our daughter's name."

The Doctor looked at it, tracing the stitching on one side and turning it over…his eyes widening as he looked up at River in shock, "No…"

"Yes," River nodded.

He shook his head and walked over to her, touching her hair a moment, tugging on a curl to see if she was really there, before he gently touched her cheek, his hearts breaking to see the color of her hair and eyes, before he pulled her into a bone crunching hug, "I'm…"

"Oh don't you go apologizing too," River laughed.

"Can't help it," he sniffled, pulling away and looking at her with new eyes, "You're really you."

"I really am," she nodded.

He started to nod at that, before swallowing hard, a determined look coming to his face, "Get them all home?" he looked at her and she nodded, watching as he ran to Mac's side and took her hand, the two of them rushing to the TARDIS, taking down the shield around it with the sonic and rushing inside. She knew they were going to try and find their daughter, their infant daughter, or their child daughter, something, anything, to be able to have her back…

But she knew it would be in vain.

She suspected they did as well, but they lived in hope. They'd have to to face what was coming.

"Where are they going?" Amy shook her head, looking at River, "Where?"

"I can't tell you," River said sadly, "I don't even know."

"What does the Leaf say?" Rory looked down, picking it up off the floor where the Doctor had dropped it in his shock, "There's something about it, Mac and the Doctor both went funny after they looked at it…"

"It's just their daughter's name," Lorna offered, "Just that."

"Oh it's more than that," River said softly, "Just…give the translation matrix a moment to kick in…and you'll see."

Rory and Amy looked at the Leaf waiting as patiently as they could…when the writing started to change before their very eyes…

To RIVER.

Rory hesitated only a moment before turning it over, his eyes widening as he saw what was on the other side.

SONG.

River nodded as they looked at her, shocked, "It's me. I'm their daughter."

A/N: OMG, you have NO idea how long I've been waiting for this chapter. I've been trying to give subtle hints about River. Yes, she is still Melody Pond (but we'll find out how VERY soon) though one reason is that it's one translation of the name to in English from Gallifreyan ;) I also been trying to make her personality more like both Mac and the Doctor. I also kept true to the promise that there would be no Time Tots here, Mac would NEVER be pregnant as Amy acted as surrogate (we'll have to wait and see if that caused any damage for Amy) :(

River is biologically a Time Lady and the daughter of the Doctor and Mac so you can see why Teddy CANNOT be her partner in this series, that's just...ewww :) It _killed me_ not to give a solid answer about Teddy and River when people asked about pairing the two together. I literally went, 'but they CAN'T be! They're siblings!' in my head each time lol :) ...that's not to say some future TL's child might not end up with River ;)

We also get when Mac and Amy were taken. Here I feel like they took Mac in UNIT (hence the open door and sudden desire to find the Doctor) and then, when they realized she couldn't carry a baby to term, got lucky in getting Amy ;) Just because there wasn't a record of a human being a surrogate for a Time Lord, doesn't mean it can't happen. I think, if Amy's baby in the show could be part-Time Lord then it would be possible for her to carry a full one to term if she wasn't the one who conceived it :) This also explains how Amy was pregnant AFTER Mac's scan from the 3 months running around America as well as why they were both taken ;)

Lol, not sure if anyone will make it to the end of this note (I know they can be really long sometimes, sorry!) But...this chapter actually brings up a thought I had about a potential 2nd writing challenge. I'm considering issuing one where we get to see how you think River and Teddy meet :) There would be one downside to it. Given the fact that I've put LJ into quite a few River episodes in TLC, I'm going to try and avoid that in this one. I can't quite see Berlin being the first time Teddy meets River but given the episodes that feature her after this series, we may never see the actual first time River and Teddy meet in this actual series, unless Series 8 and beyond opens up possibilities (no firm promises though). So, if I issue the challenge, we might get quite a few versions of it :) This isn't an official issuance of it, just a question...

Would anyone be interested in something like that?

Some notes on reviews...

Actually it's not a plot error as the Doctors say they had been each other all along and, as they couldn't swap shoes in the chapel with all the others watching them or in the hall running from the Gangers, literally the only time they were both hidden from view, with no one watching, and able to take their shoes off and swap with no one to notice was when they were behind the control panel in the evac tower popping up and down ;) They were too heavily watched after he 'attacked' Amy in the show so they wouldn't have been able to swap shoes then as they split up to get Rory and then were running from Ganger Jen ;) It would actually be a plot error if they swapped shoes after the 'Ganger' attacked Amy...and, on that note, how would the REAL Doctor know what Amy said to the Ganger about being invited to see him die unless he had already swapped shoes by that point and was pretending to be the Ganger? Amy said it to the one she thought was the Ganger in that little room just before the 'attack' and it was the real Doctor as his Ganger, when they were holding the door shut on Ganger Jen, had no idea what he was talking about being 'invited to his own death' and such :) In the last chapter, Amy ran out of the room before she could hear anything about him being a not-the Ganger :)

Amy wasn't taken in the bathroom either, in the show, the Doctor estimates Amy was taken before they even went to America (in the show), I only chose the bathroom for a few other stories as it was convenient. But here Amy wasn't taken till they went to the orphanage and Mac was taken in UNIT ;)

I think the Star is lovely :) And good luck on your art exam! I bet you'll be fantastic ;)

I'm glad you liked angry Mac last chapter, I really wanted someone to just get properly angry with Amy and what she was saying and doing (how she was treating the Gangers while ignoring the fact her own husband was made of Plastic at one point lol) :)

Mac and the Doctor can't get pregnant :( Even if they did deeds like that (which they haven't, they're not even sharing the same room at the moment lol) they wouldn't ever have a child like that so it probably wouldn't have affected her being a Ganger :( I actually had Amy and the OC taken in my first OC series with the Professor :) Except here Amy was taken as an after thought and used as a surrogate with the OC being the target, while with the Professor she was taken as a test subject and training template for Melody :( Amy really was pregnant, but in a surrogate sense, it was Mac's and the Doctor's DNA 100% ;) Which will make things VERY interesting to come ;)


	11. Let's Kill Hitler

Let's Kill Hitler

Mac looked over when an alarm started to go off on the console, slowly making her way to the monitor as it was on her side of the console for the moment. She frowned when she saw the alert the TARDIS was trying to give them. She'd had scans going, much like the projects she had running back in UNIT to alert her to when the TARDIS set down, a similar program was running now. It was meant to run scans through different areas of history, through texts and pictures and things to alert them if anyone tried to contact them, like with the Home Box. If anything out of the ordinary popped up with her name or 'Doctor' or in Gallifreyan, the TARDIS would alert them to it.

She was torn, she was so torn, between wanting to look into it, into the message, or to continue with their search for Merina. She knew that she grew to be River Song, but…SHE wanted to be the one to raise her, she wanted her baby back. Maybe…maybe they found her and she went off on her own when she was older, as all children would leave the nest eventually, and took on an alias as River Song, because of the Prayer Leaf? Like a 'code name the Doctor' but for her? She wanted it to be true, she wanted it to be true so badly but she knew the likelihood of it was slim. Because the Doctor had expressed his thoughts that the little girl in America had really been their daughter. They couldn't understand how they hadn't sensed River was a Time Lord that entire time…but…when she'd been in UNIT, when she'd likely been taken. She had looked through her lab to make sure that the others hadn't taken anything of hers and the only thing that was missing was the bracelet she herself had used to keep the Doctor from sensing her the first time they met after the War.

If the Silence had taken that and given it to River…the woman would likely have an idea of whether they knew her or not at certain points in the timeline and could slip it on. Or maybe she wore it all the time so NO ONE in the Universe knew she was really a Time Lord. That made more sense, to protect herself, to not be targeted as the Doctor's daughter, she could see her wearing the bracelet at all times.

But that really didn't matter because she just wanted to find her daughter, much like the Doctor did. They were running themselves ragged trying to find her, if not the baby (which she'd been heartsbroken about) then the little girl in the astronaut suit…but they had no idea where she was. Wherever it was, she was well hidden. She almost didn't want to go after the latest alert…but she saw the location, Leadworth, and knew she had to wake up the Doctor. For the PONDS to be calling them, knowing what they were up to…it had to be something important.

So she moved through the halls, making her way to the Doctor's bedroom to get him. He was sleeping, he'd nearly been falling asleep on his feet before and she'd ordered him to bed. He must have been more tired than she thought as he'd made a remark about her joining him in going to bed and NOT in the sense that they'd both retire to their rooms for the night but in that they retire to HIS room. So she'd shooed him off and kept up the search on her own. River might not blame her but…she did, she blamed herself, it was always her fault. Merina had been so small that she had barely been able to sense the girl even when she was lying in her arms after she'd been born. Such a small Time Lord presence that she hadn't even been able to tell when her daughter had been swapped for a Ganger. There were a thousand what-ifs running through her mind of things she could have done to help her daughter, to find out what she was before Kovarian took off, to save her…all she could do now…was wake the Doctor and see what the Ponds wanted.

~8~

And so the two Time Lords found themselves standing in the middle of a giant crop circle in the middle of Leadworth, holding up a newspaper that would print in a few days, the word 'Doctor' written out on it in cursive in the field of corn. They were standing there, before the TARDIS, and staring at an old orange car just as the Ponds got out.

"Seriously?" the Doctor had to ask as he pointed at the paper.

"You never answer your phone," Rory told them, Amy rushing past him to hug the two Time Lords, seeing them there and not their daughter too.

"You haven't found her," Amy looked at them sadly as she pulled away, "Have you?"

"No," Mac shook her head, the Doctor putting an arm around her and tugging her closer, pressing a kiss to her hair.

"But we will," the Doctor promised her, "We know she grows up to be River…we just need to find her some point between then and now."

"Hang on," Rory squinted at the paper the Doctor had tossed to the ground and picked it up, "What's this bit?" he pointed at a line running right through the word.

"That wasn't us," Amy warned.

Mac took the paper and looked at it intently, before looking around at where they were standing and walking over to the edge of the circle the others with her. They stood there a moment till they heard an engine roaring only a split second before they saw a red corvette racing towards them. Rory and the Doctor each pulled their respective gingers away and dove to the sides to avoid the car as it swerved to a stop, just barely managing to avoid the edge of the TARDIS.

The Doctor frowned, helping Mac up as a young black woman stepped out in a pink and black dress, black leggings, boots, and vest, her hair over one side of her head. She smirked at him, eyeing him, "Amy was right," she mused, "You DO look funny."

"Mels?" Rory cried, gaping at her, clearly recognizing her.

"What are you doing here?" Amy blinked.

"Following you, what do you think?" she nodded at the car.

"Um, where did you get the car?" Rory frowned at it.

"It's mine," she smiled…until police sirens could be heard in the distance, "...ish."

"Oh, Mels, not again!" Amy lamented.

"You can't keep doing this," Rory told her, "You'll end up in prison."

"Sorry, hello, Doctor not following this," the Doctor looked round at them all, "Doctor very lost. Kenzie?" he turned to her as well.

"I'm almost keeping up," Mac murmured, frowning at the woman, Mels, "Old friend, Amy probably told her about us…"

As if on cue, Mels turned to them, her eyes widening as she saw the TARDIS, "Is that the phone box?" she ran to it, confirming Mac's observations, "The bigger-on-the-inside phone box?" she turned to lean on it, "Time travel, that's just brilliant," she laughed, "Yeah, I've heard a lot about you," she added as well.

"We haven't," Mac countered, which was odd, you'd think a best mate would be mentioned more often, "You weren't even at the wedding," she recalled, which was even more odd.

"You weren't," the Doctor agreed, "I danced with everyone at the wedding. The women were all brilliant, the men were a bit shy."

Mels grimaced at the thought, "I don't do weddings," she stepped away from the TARDIS, looking in the distance, in the direction the sirens were coming from, "And that's me out of time," she spun around, pulling a gun from her vest and aiming it at the Time Lords.

"Mels!" Amy gasped.

"For God's sake!" Rory cried, though he didn't exactly seem surprised by the move.

"What are you doing?!"

Mac's reaction was just a bit more sedate, "A gun?" she scoffed, "Really?" and looked at Amy, "Does she not know about regeneration?"

"I need out of here, now!" Mels cut in, not answering or denying knowledge of that little event.

"Anywhere in particular?" the Doctor asked with a mild air.

"Well, let's see! You've got a time machine, I've got a gun. What the hell, let's kill Hitler."

"A gun wouldn't really help," Mac remarked even as the Doctor moved to open the doors to the TARDIS, "Cyanide offed him, not a gun."

"Potato, potahto," Mels rolled her eyes, "S'long as he dies when he does, what difference does it make?"

"Quite a bit really."

~8~

"Hold on!" Mac cried as the TARDIS tipped dangerously to the side moments after a gunshot went off, the gun in question still in the possession of the mysterious Mels, the bullet's target very clear as there was now a hole in the rotor casing which was expelling quite a bit of rather deadly gas out at the moment.

"You've shot it!" the Doctor shouted, rounding on Mels as she grabbed onto the stair's railing, Amy and Rory desperately trying to hold on to the rails around the console, "You shot my TARDIS! You shot the console!"

"It's your fault!" Mels scoffed.

"How's it my fault?!"

"The same way it's the sign's fault if it says 'keep out' or 'do not push!'" Mac called, "You never listen to it!"

"That's…completely different," he tried to defend.

Mels just smirked, "You said guns didn't work in this place. You said we're in a state of temporal grace."

"Very good!" Mac managed a small laugh.

"What?!" the Doctor rounded on her, "How is her shooting the console very good!?"

"Very good not to just take someone at their word," she remarked, "Where would you be if you actually listened to the keep out signs?"

He had to blink at that, "…good point."

Mac shook her head and turned, pulling out a roll of duct tape from the cardigan she was wearing, and bit off a piece, sticking it over the small hole, "It should hold for now!"

The Doctor nodded and raced over to her, but frowned as he saw the monitor, "Um…quite bad bit of news coming. Seems we're about to crash into a building."

"A building?!" Amy gaped.

"Well, actually, more like the window," he offered, trying to be reassuring, "Maybe. Possibly."

"Not helping Doctor," Rory grunted as the TARDIS bucked.

"Just…hold on," Mac looked at them, her and the Doctor grabbing the console as they felt the TARDIS break through something before it crashed to a halt, throwing them all to the floor, while also allowing them to see the massive amount of smoke that had managed to escape the small bullet hole wafting above them.

"Out, out, out!" the Doctor shouted, helping Mac up and rushing them to the doors, throwing them open and nearly pushing the others out of the box and into the room beyond, "Everybody out. Don't breathe the smoke, just get out!"

"Where are we?" Amy coughed a bit as she looked around.

"Well…" Mac began hesitantly, "I'd say Nazi Germany."

"How can you tell?" Rory frowned at her, she hadn't had time to run a scan like that.

"Could be that," Mac pointed behind them, towards the doors where there were giant swastikas on flags draped on the walls, "And then there's him…" she added, pointing to a man on the ground, his uniform distinctly WWII and German in fashion. Rory immediately ran over to check on him.

"Mels, don't go in there!" the Doctor shouted, rushing back over to the TARDIS doors where Mels was standing, looking inside. He grabbed the gun from her and pulled the doors shut, "Bad smoke! Don't breathe the bad, bad, smoke. Bad, deadly smoke, because somebody shot my TARDIS!" he shot Mels one more glare as she turned to stalk off and look at the room. He ran a hand through his hair and turned back to Mac to see her giving him a pointed look at his hand. He glanced down to see he was still holding Mels's gun and looked around for a place to put it, settling, of all places, on a bowl of fruit on a desk nearby. He'd just set it down when a man climbed up from behind it, "Ooh, hello! Sorry, is this your office? Had a sort of collision with my vehicle. Faults on both sides, let's say no more about..." he trailed off in shock when the man turned around to reveal himself to be none other than Adolf Hitler himself, "…it…"

"Is that..." Amy began, slowly making her way over to them as they stared at Hitler, Rory with her, though Mac stayed more near the TARDIS, watching Mels in concern, seeing the woman's gaze flickering towards the Doctor with a less than pleased expression on her face, "No, it can't be, Doctor?"

"Thank you," Hitler smiled, "Whoever you are, I think you have just saved my life."

"Believe me... it was an accident," the Doctor breathed.

"What is this thing?" Hitler looked past them towards the TARDIS and started to move towards it, examining it.

"What did he mean we saved his life?!" Amy hissed, "We could _not_ have saved Hitler."

"You see?!" the Doctor snapped at Mels, "You see, time travel, it never goes to plan!"

"I don't know why you're getting all huffy," Mac shook her head.

"Um…Hitler?" Rory gave her a confused look, the man was a monster and she was acting nonchalant about saving him!

"Yes, and?"

"He's a monster!" Amy hissed, echoing Rory's thoughts.

"He did terrible things, yes," Mac agreed, "But he's still a human being."

"You're actually HAPPY we saved him?" Amy gaped at her.

"I don't feel one way or the other," Mac shook her head, "Even the most terrible people, at times, can be saved, can be offered a hand to try and help them out of the darkness."

"Right," Amy scoffed.

"Amy why don't you ask the Doctor what his last words to Davros were?" Mac crossed her arms.

"Who?"

"The man who created the Daleks."

Amy blinked and looked at the Doctor to see him staring at Mac, "I offer him my hand," the Doctor told her, "I told him I could still save him from his ship that was exploding around him, the man watching his creations dying in flames."

"If the DOCTOR can find it in his hearts to try and save Davros's life, not once, but twice," Mac continued, "I think humans should be able to look past travesties to at least acknowledge that, yes, Hitler, and others, has done the most horrendous, heinous crimes imaginable, but he IS still a human being. Not a monster. He's a man who was completely disgusting for what he did, but a man who did them because in his heart he truly thought THAT was the best thing for his country, as wrong as it may be. And it was SO wrong," Mac agreed, "But he IS human, he does have the capacity to love and fear and cry and bleed. THAT is the only thing I want you to remember Amy, he's not a monster of nightmares, he's a human being who did truly terrible things, but a HUMAN nonetheless."

The Doctor had to smile at that, humans were conflicted about war criminals. They liked to paint them as black or white, soulless individuals who were just pure evil. But that's not how it was, everyone had a story, everyone had things that made them who they were, paths and choices and experiences that made them who they were. Hitler was no different. The man was dastardly, yes, but he could also walk with a child and hold their hand, he could love a woman, and he could love his country. He didn't agree AT ALL with what he'd done…

But then again, HE had killed his entire planet for the sake of the Universe, he, to some people, like Kovarian, was just as evil and heinous for other actions as Hitler was. It was all about perception and all about how others looked at it. History was written by the winners and while there was NO way to paint what Hitler had done and would do in any sort of positive light at all…there were always two sides to every story. An invaded country would see anyone coming in as evil conquerors, the invading country would see it as trying to better other countries and help them, gain new resources and spread 'civilization' and whatnot.

"This box," Hitler called after he made his rounds around the outside of it, "What is it?"

"It's a police telephone box from London, England," the Doctor answered, starting to walk more towards Mac, not wanting her anywhere near Hitler, despite what she'd just said…he didn't trust the man around her, "That's right, Adolf, the British are coming!"

Hitler turned, seeming affronted and was ready to say something…when it died on his tongue, something over the Doctor's shoulder catching his gaze. "No, stop him!" he pulled out a gun and Mac immediately pulled the Doctor to the ground as the man fired the gun at the fallen man who had just started to pick himself up.

Rory rushed over and punched Hitler across the face, grabbing his gun as the man dropped it and aimed it back at him, "Sit still, shut up," he ordered as Hitler put his hands up.

"Are you ok?" Amy asked the fallen man as she moved to help him up.

"Yes, yes," he nodded, starting to look himself over, patting himself down, "Yes. I'm fine I think he missed."

"He was going to kill me!" Hitler shouted.

"Shut up, Hitler!" Rory huffed.

"Rory," the Doctor shook his head, "Take Hitler and put him in that cupboard over there now. Do it!" he turned to the man as Amy led him to sit on the edge of the desk, Mac watching Rory march Hitler off, making sure the man wouldn't try anything or call for any guards they hadn't had time to help 'win the lottery' for. She let out a small breath when she saw Hitler safely locked away and Rory heading back before she turned to the Doctor again, "Are you ok?" he was asking as he examined the man…only for him to faint right off the desk and onto the ground.

"I think he just fainted," Rory remarked.

"No, did he?" Mac gave Rory a sarcastic, but playful smile, before she turned to look around, frowning when she saw Mels standing there with her hands pressed to her stomach, "Mels…" she made her way over to her, moving quicker when she saw the girl sway, "Are you alright?"

Mels swallowed hard, looking at Mac with a small smirk, "Hitler's a lousy shot," was all she got out before her knees buckled, nearly taking Mac down with her as she tried to keep the girl from hitting the ground.

"Mels!" Amy rushed over to her, as did Rory and the Doctor, both men helping Mac lower her to the ground gently, "Mels!"

"No, no, no!" Rory reached out for her bullet wound, "I've got to stop the bleeding!"

"How bad is it?" Amy looked at Rory frantically, "Rory, what can we do?"

Rory swallowed hard, "Just keep her conscious! Stay with us, Mels."

"Mels," Mac looked at her, "Keep your eyes on us, sweetie," she took Mels's hand, "Just…hold on."

Mels looked at them with a small smile, "I used to dream about you two. All those stories Amy told me."

"What stories?" the Doctor tried to keep her conscious, "Tell me what stories. Vampires in Venice, that's a belter."

"When I was little, I was going to…to be your next companion."

"You still can," Mac told her, "You hang in there, and you can come with Amy and Rory and us."

"Yes, soon as you're well," the Doctor agreed, "We'll swing round your house to get your things, leave a little note for mum and dad, the fantastic Mr. and Mrs. Er…" he trailed of, realizing he didn't even know Mels's last name.

"Pond," Mels wheezed, making Amy smile. It had been one reason she and Mels had been such good friends growing up, they weren't related at all, but they had the same last name, like friends who find they share the same birthday. It had been a joke between them for years that they were both Pond girls.

Mac's smile faltered just slightly at that name, Mels was likely short for Melody…Melody Pond. Curious…it was…well, it was a lot like River Song, if the names were reversed and…and if it was translated into the Forest language as well…

But no…no that…that couldn't be…her daughter had dark red hair and green eyes and…and there was no way she'd regenerated, she couldn't have…her baby couldn't have died and regenerated…

Mels's eyes flickered to Mac's seeing the play of emotions cross her face, she'd been warned the Doctor could be quite thick at times, made sense the woman would work it out first, "Funny sort of name isn't it?" she mused, wincing as a pin hit her, "Don't have ponds in the forest either do they?"

The Time Lords stiffened at that, their hearts stopping at the words, the confirmation for Mac, the implication for the Doctor as they stared at the young woman…right when her hands started to glow…

"What the hell's going on?" Rory stared in shock.

"That's…that's the same light as the lake," Amy breathed before Mac could do a thing to silence her, not that she or the Doctor were really in the right frame of mind to realize what Amy had said.

The Doctor quickly grabbed Amy's hand while Mac shook herself and pulled Rory up by the arm, pulling the humans away, knowing just how violent regenerations could be, "Back! Back! Back! Get back!"

Mels groaned as she pushed herself to her feet, "First time this happened," she winced, "Last time actually, I ended up a toddler in the middle of New York."

"Someone…" Amy shook her head as they backed up to a desk, Mels walking to an open space across the room from them, "Explain what is happening? Please!"

"There isn't a word for waves or ponds in the forest language," Mac murmured, staring at her daughter, horrified to realize she really HAD regenerated once before…and now she was again, "The only water in the forest is the River…"

Mels smirked at that, "Took me years to find you two. Ages of growing up with the humans," she flickered her gaze at Amy and Rory, "The future companions, the key to seeing you again…"

Mac closed her eyes at that, feeling tears in them…Mels was a lifelong friend of Amy's, Amy had gotten to know her daughter more than SHE had. Hell, given the sort of personality Mels had, Amy and Rory probably raised her growing up with her. She wanted to be happy that her daughter had at least had something of a normal childhood…but it hurt so much more. Because if she'd been the little girl in the astronaut suit, as they suspected, and she'd regenerated while still in America…then she'd likely done so as a little girl…which meant that the Silence and Kovarian had found her again and brought her to England within the last 2 decades to place her there with the Ponds. She hadn't ever gotten to raise her daughter…

"The River…" Amy breathed, working it out…when Mels suddenly cried out in pain, the regeneration seizing her, exploding out of her as she threw her head back. They shied away, blocking their eyes from the light…looking up only when it faded and the woman they all knew as River Song fell out of the regeneration, still wearing Mels's outfit.

"No…" Mac let out a breath seeing THAT version of her daughter. Her 3rd incarnation…she was only on her third incarnation. All her mind could go to was the Library, THAT River being there. She hadn't even made it to her 13th self and she…what she'd do in the Library…how it would burn out both hearts of a Time Lord…

She felt ill.

"Right," River took a breath, starting to examine herself in a way that reminded her of the Doctor, though a bit less animated, "Let's see, then. Ooh, it's all going on down there, isn't it?" she felt around her waist when her hands flew to her head, "The hair!" she turned and bolted over to a mirror, staring at her hair, "Oh! The hair, it just doesn't stop, does it? Look at that! Everything changes! Oh, but I love it, I love it!" she spun around to face them, "I'm all sort of... mature!" she did a little wiggle dance at that in excitement. She put her hands over her mouth to hide a giggle and her eyes flew wide, "The teeth!" she gasped and looked back at the mirror, "The teeth, the teeth!"

"I'm starting to see you in her Doctor," Mac murmured, the way she was trying to piece together what she was like was so much like him.

"Ooh and I love this outfit!" River cried, rushing over to them, coming to lean on the side of the table beside the Doctor, poking the side of his bowtie, "Watch out! That bowtie! Excuse me, you lot, I need to weigh myself!" she spun on her heel and rushed out of the room.

"That's…your daughter," Amy blinked at the doorway as they all moved to lean on the desk, stunned.

"And River Song," Rory nodded.

"Who's River Song?" River asked, peeking her head round the door frame.

Mac looked at her sadly, "Spoilers."

Which only made River frown in confusion, "Spoilers?" she moved into the doorway, putting her hand on her hip, "What's spoilers?" before she felt something a little more behind her hip, "Hang on, just something I have to check!" and ran out of the room again.

Rory rubbed his head, "Is anybody else finding today just a bit difficult? I'm getting a sort of banging in my head."

"Yeah, I think that's Hitler in the cupboard," Amy remarked.

"That's not helping."

The Doctor looked at Mac, taking her hand as he led her to the other end of the room, seeming to talk to her privately though the Ponds followed, "She's not River Song yet," he reminded her, taking both her hands, "This is her right at the start…"

"But we know how it will end," she murmured, her hearts breaking.

Just as the Doctor went to open his mouth to try and comfort her, they heard River give an excited shout from the other room, "Ah, that's magnificent!" she stepped into the room, "I'm going to wear LOTS of jumpers!" she eyed them a moment, "Well, now, enough of all that!" and pulled out Hitler's revolver to aim at them, at the Doctor more specifically, "Down to business."

"Any reason you're pointing a gun at me dear?" the Doctor asked, not quite as alarmed as the Ponds seemed to be, Mac just growing more heartsbroken to see her daughter like that.

"Oh plenty," River smirked.

"Doctor, what's she doing?" Amy frowned.

"What she was raised to do," Mac whispered.

"Where'd she get the gun?" Rory shook his head.

"It's Hitler's," Mac remarked, "You dropped it on the arm chair right by the mirror she was looking in before."

"You noticed!" River mused, trying to fire at the Doctor, the aim moving slightly to Mac after the first fire but nothing happened.

"We both did," the Doctor nodded, "As soon as I knew you were coming, I tidied up a bit," he'd run for that chair and emptied the bullets from it.

"I know you did," River tossed the gun away.

"I know you know."

River quickly reached into her vest and pulled out what she thought was her own gun…only to see a banana in her hand, "Goodness, is killing you going to take all day?"

"Why?" the Doctor frowned, eyeing her, "Why want to kill me?" he wanted to know that, if he knew her reasons, he could better determine if they were brainwashed or the way she'd been raised or lies she'd been told just…something to get through to her. Though he was quite glad he'd turned the fruit bowl when she'd complimented his bowtie so she'd grab the banana instead. She was his daughter, and bananas were a good source of potassium.

"Like you said, spoilers," she turned to Hitler's desk and grabbed the letter opener, turning to try and swipe at the Doctor but it flew out of her hand and to a rather large magnet Mac was holding in her hand.

"You need to stop this," Mac pleaded with her though she knew it was likely pointless, she had no idea what Kovarian had done to her daughter, whether she was doing this of her own free will or if she was operating on triggers or if she was being forced to or manipulated to. She had no idea what she could say to get River to stop and listen to them.

River huffed, "You're not my mother, you can't tell me what to do," she said, turning to grab the gun from the fruit bowl, spinning around to fire at them…but it made an empty click noise, the Doctor merely holding up the clip though he and Mac were staring at her, him with a frown, Mac devastated.

The way she'd said it…it wasn't biting, it wasn't bitter, it wasn't even condescending…it was like a generalized statement, like something offhanded…like she truly had NO idea that they were her parents. And that was worrying them. They didn't know if perhaps she'd been told and waved it off, if she resented them for not being able to protect her and was masking it…or if Kovarian just hadn't told her to make this mission of hers easier to see through. There were ways to sort of 'cook up' a Time Lord, extreme exposure to the Time Vortex for one, it was why Mac had warned Amy and Rory not to get into any 'funny business' in the TARDIS while in flight in the Vortex for fear of a child they might conceive. It was possible that Kovarian had told River that she was one such child, that she'd just been exposed to the Time Vortex while an embryo and that was why she was Time Lord now.

"I don't understand," Rory shook his head, "What's going on?"

"Simple," River eyed the Doctor, stepping closer, "I was trained and conditioned for one purpose. I was born to kill the Doctor."

"Demons Run, remember?" the Doctor finally realized, "This is what they were building, my bespoke psychopath."

"But she's not," Amy frowned, "She's not a psychopath, she's your dau…"

Amy didn't even get a chance to finish her sentence when River quickly jabbed out, something clear in her hand, and stabbed the Doctor, who had made the unfortunate choice to step closer to her as she was him, in the neck before dropping the object, a syringe, to the ground.

"That saying is quite terrible," River mused as the Doctor's hand flew to his neck, Mac rushing to his side, "NEVER keep your enemies THAT close."

"River!" Mac gasped, grabbing the Doctor's arm as he fell to his knees, grabbing his chest in pain.

"What's wrong?!" Amy ran to help her.

"What have you done?" the Doctor looked at her, trying not to feel quite so betrayed that his own daughter had done this to him, "River!"

"River, River, River," River rolled her eyes, "I know you're old Doctor, but surely the memory can't be going THAT quickly."

"What have you done?!" Mac cried out, "Why would you do that!?"

"Because it was never going to be a gun for him," River smirked, "The man of peace who understands every kind of warfare, except the cruelest. They said I'd be able to get closest to you. Pity," she sighed, "I was hoping for more of a challenge," and with that she jumped out the window and into Berlin.

"What's wrong with you?" Rory ran to his side as Mac scanned him with the sonic, "What's she done to you?"

"Poison…" Mac breathed, looking at the Doctor, horrified.

He reached out and grabbed her hand, "I'm fine," he insisted, wincing as a pain hit him, disproving that, "Well, no, I'm dying, but I've got a plan."

"What plan?" Amy shook her head.

"Not dying," he winced, pushing himself up, leaning heavily on Mac for support.

"What do we do?" Rory looked at Mac.

Mac swallowed hard, hearing the 'plan' in the Doctor's head, and gave him the sonic, "Go find River," she pleaded with them, "We'll find you in the TARDIS…there might be a scan or medicine in there that we can use to help him. But you need to GO!"

"You said the smoke was deadly!" Amy reminded her even as Rory ran for the window after River.

"The smoke's fine," the Doctor waved her off, "The poison will kill me first," he almost flinched at how much tighter Mac was grabbing his hand but took a breath, "Now, get after River!" he shoved Amy after Rory and Mac helped him into the TARDIS.

"Extractor fans on!" she called and the smoke began to be sucked away through vents at the top of the ceiling.

"That works?" he looked at her.

"Bit of tweaking," she muttered, helping him over to the jump seat to sit in before she headed over to the console, running as many scans on him as she could.

"Naery…" he moaned, panting, "How am I doing?"

She stared as one of the scans beeped, her eyes wide, "The poison's from the Judas Tree," she breathed, the Doctor actually managing to stiffen in alarm at that, "The scan estimates just a little over a half hour left…"

"So, basically better regenerate?"

Mac looked over at him, "Don't joke Theta," she warned him, "You know your regeneration's been…disabled," she offered, for lack of a less final word.

"What about a cure?"

"There isn't one, you know that."

"Ok…" he nodded, trying not to let on how badly he was trembling at that, "So…half an hour to work out how to save our daughter then…"

Mac nearly felt a sob take her at that, he was dying and the only thought on his mind was saving their daughter and getting her back, well that was just very him…very parental really. She knew if it were HER in that spot, she'd think the same. She'd want to know her child was safe before the end.

She shook her head, "You're not going to die," she determined.

"Naey…" he tried to speak.

"No!" she snapped, tears in her eyes, "I don't care what it takes, we are getting our daughter back and YOU are going to live! I'm not watching you die again!" she turned back to the console, rushing around it for something that would help…not seeing the Doctor staring at her for what she'd said.

Again?

He knew she'd watched his last self die, but he got the feeling she wasn't talking about that him at all.

~8~

The Doctor and Mac practically flew out of the TARDIS the moment it landed in a restaurant when they saw Amy…or a robotic version of her…attacking River with some sort of white beam. Mac raced to a mirror and shoved it forward, right into the path of the beam, sending it bouncing back at the robot, forcing it to stop before it got damaged in the process.

River panted, looking over at them, and gaping at the Doctor, "You're dying and you stopped to change?"

The Doctor smiled, wearing a black suit, tails, and a top hat, a cane in his hand as he moved to Mac's side, sliding an arm around her waist. She'd managed to find a very, really VERY powerful pain reliever for him. Strongest in the galaxy but he knew with the poison working through him it wouldn't last quite as long as it normally would and he needed to find a way to get through to River quickly.

"You should always waste time when you don't have any," he told her, "Time is not the boss of you, Rule 408," he glanced at the robotic Amy, "Amelia Pond, judgment death machine. Why am I not surprised?" he held up the cane to it, flashing it with the end of it, "Sonic cane!"

"Are you serious?" River scoffed.

"Unfortunately," Mac murmured, staring more at River than the robot at the moment.

"Never knowingly be serious," the Doctor called, "Rule 27. You might want to write these down," he glanced at his cane, reading the results, "Oh, it's a robot! With 423 life signs inside. A robot...worked by tiny people. Love it!"

"How are they in there?" Mac glanced at it, "Not Time Lord science."

"No," he agreed, "Basic miniaturization sustained by a compression field. Oh, watch what you eat, it'll get you every time. Amy, if you and Rory are ok, signal me," he glanced at the cane as it beeped, "Thanking you…ooh!" he winced, nearly falling to the side as his one leg gave out, Mac rushing to his side to help sustain him, "Oops, sorry," he grimaced as she led him to a small set of steps that led to the TARDIS, "Leg went to sleep. Just had a quick left leg power nap, I forgot I had one scheduled. Actually, better sit down, I think I heard the right one yawning…"

"STOP!" Mac cried when River took a run for it and the robot shot a beam of light at her again. Perhaps it was her motherly instincts coming out coupled with the adrenaline of fearing for the Doctor, but the Time Lord in question was rather impressed with how Mac had been able to heft one of the chairs up and throw it across the room at the robot…it hardly made a dent, but it DID get it to stop and leave River alone. She stormed over to it, getting right in front of it, "You touch one HAIR on my daughter's head again and I will dismantle you bolt by bolt!"

The Doctor looked over, seeing River was stuck in a sort of containment field, but her eyes were wide with confusion at what Mac had said about her being her daughter.

"You should not care," the robot stated emotionlessly, "She is the women who kills the Doctor."

"She's also our daughter," the Doctor repeated, "And I'm not dead."

"You're dying."

"Meaning present tense, in the act of, not past tense," Mac argued.

"And at least I'm not a time-travelling shape-shifting robot operated by miniaturized cross people, which, I have got to admit, I didn't see coming," the Doctor sighed, before pointing his cane at River, "What do you want with her?"

"She's Melody Pond," it stated, "According to records, the woman who kills the Doctor."

"Alright, but, like we said many times, she's OUR daughter, she's ours to reprimand. What's it got to do with you?"

"Throughout history, many criminals have gone unpunished in their lifetimes. Time travel has... responsibilities."

"So you hop through time and just…stop people from doing things they haven't done yet?"

"We don't kill them. We extract them near the end of their established timelines."

"And then what?" the Doctor frowned.

"Give them hell."

"You just try it on her and see what happens," Mac threatened, her eyes narrowing.

"I'd ask you who you think you are," the Doctor called, "But I think the answer is pretty obvious."

Mac walked closer to the robot, looking at it intently, "If you think she's the one who kills the Doctor then you must have a reason for it. What information do you have in there?"

"Our records office is sealed to the public," the robot replied, "Foreknowledge is dangerous."

"You're seriously going to cite foreknowledge to _time travelers_?" she scoffed, "Have you any idea what foreknowledge we have of the fate of the human race?"

"And either way, I'll be dead in three minutes," the Doctor called, "There isn't much foreknowledge left."

"Don't say that," Mac called, looking at him, making him wince at what he'd said.

"Sorry," the robot cut in, "Can't do that."

Mac shook her head and turned back to it, "No. You don't understand. That girl back there, is my daughter, she's just tried to kill her father and I don't know why. So you tell me what I want to know about all this and why my Chosen is being targeted, or…"

"Records available," the robot stated, making her blink a little surprised.

She'd hoped that, because this was all a personal family matter, that access could be given. It was like how families were privy to information about their deceased loved ones, told information on how they died. It HAD to be the same there and, luckily, it appeared it was.

The Doctor groaned and pushed himself up on his cane, leaning on it heavily as he made his way over to Mac, glancing at River who looked beyond confused at everything being said around her. It both caused his hearts to clench and also gave him hope to see that expression. She'd been just a baby the last time they'd really seen HER, not 'River Song.' And, while Time Lords had fantastic memories, she'd only been a month old, she'd only known him a few hours as well, he couldn't expect her to remember who they were. It hurt because he felt like that expression meant she genuinely had NO idea they were her parents (or likely believed they were) and it meant that she wasn't doing this out of hate or spite or revenge but just…a mission the Silence gave her. It meant she just didn't know the truth and it gave him hope that, when she did, it would be different.

"Question," he looked at the robot, "I'm dying... who wants me dead?"

"The Silence," the robot stated.

"Yes, we've met them," Mac muttered, "What we don't know is WHY. Why do they want him dead? What even are they?"

"The Silence is not a species. It is a religious order, or movement. Their core belief is that silence will fall when the question is asked."

"What question? " the Doctor shook his head.

"The first question. The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight."

"Yes, but what is the question?"

"Unknown."

"I swear to god," Mac muttered, "If it's something ridiculous like 'Doctor Who?'…"

"Can't be," the Doctor shook his head in thought, "It's been asked LOADS of times," he scoffed and looked at the robot, "Fat lot of use that is, you big ginge! Call yourself a Records...argh!" he nearly fell to the floor but reached out to Mac in the process, managing to keep himself up long enough for her to turn to help support him, gently settling him to the ground, "Kidneys," he winced, "Always the first to quit. I've had better, you know."

Mac opened her mouth to try and reassure him when suddenly the containment field around River turned red, causing her to scream in pain, "STOP IT!" Mac turned to the robot, "Rory! Amy!" she shouted, knowing that Amy and Rory had to be inside there for them to signal the Doctor, "Stop them!"

"What do we do?" the robot asked, as frantically as a robot could sound, "This is me. This is me actually talking. What do we do?"

"I don't care if you have to tear that place apart or hold someone at gunpoint, you STOP THEM!" Mac cried, the Doctor reaching out to take her hand, even though he didn't condone the use of violence or force…right now their daughter was in pain and suffering and only the Ponds could really help her. There was no beam to deflect, there was no way to pull the field away from her, it had to be internal. He didn't care what they did as long as it stopped hurting his daughter!

"How, how? How?"

"Just do it!" he himself nearly roared at them, the pain HE was feeling was NOTHING compared to seeing his little girl (even if she was fully grown…perhaps that was what Mac felt dealing with Teddy) in pain and hurting.

He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding when River was released, though it left the woman panting and shaking.

"Are you alright sweetie?" Mac looked at her, wanting to go to her daughter but her Chosen was now the one in the pain.

"Sweetie?" River scoffed.

"Please," the Doctor breathed, "They saved you and now you have to save the Ponds," he looked at her, "Don't run. Now, I know you're scared, but never run when you're scared. Rule 7. Please."

"Why should I?" River shook her head.

"Because that woman in there," Mac nodded at the robot as it started to speak like Amy, calling out for help, "She carried you to term, for us," she squeezed the Doctor.

"What do you mean, for you?" River eyed them.

"River…" the Doctor wheezed, "We're your parents."

"No you're not," she shook her head, "I don't have any parents. I was created in a lab with exposure to the Time Vortex and…"

"No," Mac cut in gently, "River…whatever exposure they gave you would NOT make you a full blooded Time Lord like you are. That…that can only happen when you have 2 Time Lord parents. At best…all they could do would be to make you half-Time Lord given the time of gestation and human access to the Vortex. WE," she swallowed hard, "We're your mum and dad."

River stared at them, wanting to deny it, wanting to ignore what she was being told…but…something inside her kept her from saying. Kovarian had made it clear to her that she was a FULL Time Lord and therefore the only one able to get close enough to the Doctor and Mac as they'd be looking for others of their kind who survived the war. But she had no memory of the war at all and she could remember a fair bit of her life from the age of about 2 and after. There were…distant memories, a warm embrace, a song someone sang to her…a beautiful language she couldn't grasp. But that was all it was, a distant thought. It wasn't real, it couldn't be. Kovarian was hardly a warm person nor would she ever sing to her.

It was just a dream of hers.

Mac looked down, hearing the Doctor groan and seeing his breathing getting more strained, he looked at her and she could see the pain in his eyes, the strength he was trying to hold onto. She reached out a shaky hand to his face, gently touching his cheek, her hearts breaking when he nuzzled his face into her hand before she moved it to his hair, running a hand through it. She wanted to go get Amy and Rory…but she just couldn't bring herself to leave him. If…if he died while she was off getting the Ponds, if he died without her there, without her holding him like she'd been too shocked to do at the lake…she didn't know what she'd do. She couldn't leave him…even if it meant Amy and Rory were in danger. And she hated that, that had always been her thing with the companions, doing what she had to to keep them safe, even if it meant separating from the Doctor.

And right now, when it really counted, she couldn't.

She closed her eyes tightly, doing the only thing she could think of to simultaneously block out Amy's cries for help while also comforting the Doctor…she sang an old lullaby to him, the same one she'd sung to Merina when she'd held her in Demons Run before she'd melted into Flesh…

River gasped as she heard the old song, the song she dreamed of, the song she hummed to herself whenever Kovarian or the Silence made her feel scared, "How…how do you know that song?" she breathed, looking at Mac with wide eyes.

Mac looked up at her, seeing the shock in her expression and took a breath, knowing this might be her only chance to get through to her daughter, "_It's an old lullaby from Gallifrey,_" she said, speaking in Gallifreyan, hoping to touch another part of River's past, how she'd whispered to her in that language as a child, "_I sang it to you the day you were taken from us Merina._"

River felt as though she'd been punched in the gut at hearing those words, that language, that…that NAME. Something snapped inside her at it, instinctively know that it was HER name that Mac had just uttered. It was a name NO ONE but her parents knew, she…she didn't know how she knew that. She just did, like it was some sort of innate knowledge, like ideas about time and space, a sensitivity to it. She looked at Mac and the Doctor, the man struggling to look at her with…with a father's love and…and pride and happiness that came from seeing a child all grown up…and forgiveness. That was what did her in, the look in his eyes, and she took off running for the TARDIS.

~8~

Mac looked away from the Doctor, who was lying with his head in her lap, only when she heard the sound of the TARDIS coming back and saw the Ponds and River running out of the doors, River behind the humans, almost hesitant to get too close, "Doctor!" Amy rushed over, her and Rory kneeling on one side of him, "You can't die now," Amy shook her head, seeing the state he was in, "We know you don't die now."

The Doctor smiled at that, another slip there about the thing they kept hidden from him. He knew enough to make a fairly good guess about what happened that they wouldn't tell him in Utah. If he'd known all it would take is death (or he was hoping near-death, miracles could yet still happen!) to get them to let so much slip, he'd have tried his hand at spooking them ages ago, "Doesn't seem to be the case at the mo," he offered instead.

"Doctor, what do we do?" Rory asked, looking between him and Mac, "How do we help him Mac?"

"We can't," Mac whispered, "YOU can't," she swallowed hard, "Doctor…" she looked at him, "I'm going to transfer my regenerations to you…"

"No!" he cried, his eyes widening.

"I have to!" she argued.

"You want to try and burn the poison out of me like on Mars," he shook his head, "It won't be enough," he told her, "You're on your 8th self Kenzie…you've only 5 left…that's not enough energy."

"I have to try!" she nearly shouted, tears in her eyes, "Doctor…I can't…I can't lose you. I lose everyone I love, I can't lose you too…"

He reached out to take her hand, "_I'm sorry Naery,_" he looked into her eyes, "_I love you too._"

"_Please Theta,_" she nearly sobbed, knowing this would be final. Time was always in flux, for all they knew, the Doctor on the lake never happened now, because he could die before then, this could just as easily be the day he died, much like with Agatha Christie "_Please don't go…_"

"M…Mother?" River called, seeming to be trying to test the word and not at all comfortable using it just yet, it sounded foreign to her, "What…what do you mean, the regenerations would burn out the poison?"

Mac looked at River, seeing herself in the girl now, and shook her head, "Nothing."

But the damage had been done, River already knew what she meant. Regeneration energy was like fire and power…it could burn out an illness, she'd seen it done on herself. That was how she'd regenerated the first time, she'd been ill and it led to her regeneration, she'd been healthy after that. If the same principle applied here…the regeneration energy would burn out the poison and save the Doctor…

"_Merina…_" River looked down, hearing the Doctor call to her and moved to kneel on his other side, he reached out and took her hand as well, "_I want you to know…I forgive you,_" he smiled at her, "_And I'm so thankful I got to see you grow up._"

It shouldn't have been possible, that she was an adult now. But it was always different. The first body was the only one that really 'grew' older, most Time Lords had it set that after they regenerated, they'd just stay the way they were. But some could be different, some could choose to have their regenerations grow if they focused enough. River had been too young when she'd first regenerated, had still been growing and had kept that notion in mind as her second self took over. She'd grown from a toddler to a lovely young woman. And he was just so glad he could see her once like this, as his daughter, before he passed.

River's eyes filled with tears as she looked down at what she'd done to her own father, the man's eyes drifting closed, her mother starting to cry. She didn't need any more proof than what they'd shown her tonight to know they really WERE her parents…and she'd just hurt one of them. She'd spent so long thinking she was a test tube baby but here they were, her parents, her biological, genuine, parents…and one of them was dying because of her.

But there was something she could do to change that.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, opening them when she saw her hands glowing with her regeneration energy, ALL of it, every bit of it that was still left. She didn't know how much this would take…but she wasn't going to take chances. If it meant using all of it to save him…she would.

And so she did…

~8~

Mac and the Doctor slowly entered the TARDIS, both solemn and quiet as the Ponds followed. They'd been in the hospital, with River. The girl had used up all of her remaining regenerations in an effort to heal her father, she'd succeeded, but it had troubled the Time Lords to know this was River's last life. It especially seemed to devastate Mac who had gone remarkably quiet. She'd sat on River's bed, the entire time, on the edge, stroking her daughter's hair as the Doctor held River's hand, fiddling with an old bracelet he recognized as Mac's from UNIT, the same bracelet she'd used to keep him from sensing her. It appeared they were correct in the assumption that the Silence had taken it for River. They were waiting for her to wake up, just wanting to say a proper thank you and goodbye. They both realized that, if River stayed with them, the Silence could target her again, the TARDIS was, surprisingly easy to track through time and space, tales of their exploits ranging far and wide.

If River got out now, hid among the humans, somewhere in time and space and blended in, the Silence might not find her. It would give them time to work out what the Silence were up to and stop them, and then they could go back for her. It was also…they saw a lot of the Doctor in her, the need to get out there and explore…to not be tied to rules. They wanted her with them, terribly, but their daughter had grown up and, when she was ready, if she wanted to, she could travel with them. For now…they knew she was still getting used to the idea of having any parents at all and they wanted to give her space to come to terms with it herself, let her seek them out and they would come running.

Always.

No words had actually needed to be said in the hospital, the Time Lords had either spoken silently, or conveyed everything through mere looks. River just smiled and fell back asleep, reassured her father was alright and she'd done a good job. They'd left her the TARDIS journal to help her with her thoughts.

Amy and Rory looked at each other, knowing not to bring up that they were leaving River in the hospital and heading off. It was hard enough for the Time Lords just to let go of her hand, leaving the room had been torture and they didn't want to bring that up. But there was still one thing they were very concerned about.

"Doctor…" Rory began, "River was brainwashed to kill you…"

"Well, she did," he shrugged, "And then used her remaining lives to bring me back."

"But that stuff that they put in her head, is that gone now? The River that we know in the future, she is in prison for murder."

The Doctor looked over, seeing Mac flinch out of the corner of his eye as she stood at her end of the console.

"Whose murder?" Amy asked, not seeing Mac, but the Doctor was quiet, "Will we see her again?"

"She'll come looking for us," he agreed, moving over to Mac.

"Yeah, but how? How do people even look for you?"

"YOU managed to do it," the Doctor winked at her, reminding them of the cornfield, before he let out a wide yawn.

"Come on," Mac took his hand, tugging him off, "You're still not fully recovered. I told you to spend one more day in the hospital."

"I hate hospitals though," he pouted, quite contradictory to his title.

"Well then you're getting rest here," she countered, pulling him off and then ended up helping him when he started to stagger, towards his rooms.

She opened the door and stepped into the spacious and rather disorganized space…wondering if there might be a carpet under all the things thrown about his room. For a man who wore the same thing every day, there was copious amounts of clothing scattered about. She led him over to his bed and sat him down, but he just turned and laid on it, rolling on his side.

"I'm too tired to get changed, I'll just take a nap," he said…peeking up at her moments later when he neither heard her speak nor heard the door open, "Kenzie?" he frowned, seeing her just standing there, biting her lip, "What is it?"

"I…" she took a breath, "Could I…would you mind if…" she let out a frustrated breath and he smiled.

"Just say it Naey."

She looked at him, her cheeks red, "Could I stay?" she asked, but her voice cracked at the end and he could hear the tears in them, "Just so I…so I don't wake up and think that you…"

He nodded, scooting back and holding out a hand to her, understanding nightmares all too well. She was afraid she'd wake up and think he was gone, that it was a dream that he'd survived. He didn't want that. Anything he could do to make her comfortable and happy he'd do. And…there WAS the added benefit of having her sleep in his arms for the first time since he'd gotten married on Gallifrey.

He couldn't help but smile widely as she settled in his arms, rolling over to face him, resting her head on his chest and shoulder, his arms locked around her. He really did have to talk to her about what he'd learned from the Teselecta, that robot that had imitated Amy, but…for now…he was content to just drift off with his Chosen in his arms and hoping, perhaps, they could make this a permanent thing.

A/N: I think my computer has followed my laptop and committed suicide on me :( I got a virus on Thursday and my entire hard drive was erased :'( I still had the stories on backup all the chapters save about 2 OUAT ones, but I couldn't get my computer to work at all and with school I had no access to a computer to fix the chapters for yesterday :( I managed to make it to the library in my town Friday though and I got a few chapters edited. My sister originally told me Friday that she'd let me borrow her laptop to post...and of course, when she tells me she'll 'let' me use it, it means after she's woken up and finished using it herself -sigh- I just got a hold of it 5 minutes ago :( And, worse yet, she's in a mood now and she's not letting me use it again so I don't think I'll be able to post a second chapter today (like I mentioned on tumblr). BUT! I'm heading out to get a new computer in about an hour so hopefully I'll have everything set to give you guys a double whammy tomorrow ;)

I hope you liked this chapter, poor River :( Poor Mac and the Doctor too :( I could see Kovarian keeping River's parentage from her to make her more agreeable to do her mission :( We'll see the fallout of this chapter in the next }:)

Some notes on reviews...

Lol, I tried to make it more no Time Tots to be a little more general, but still Mac was never pregnant and there won't be babies in the whole series growing up like the others ;)

I don't think I'd pair Teddy with Clara, just because I did that with J and Clara :)

I can't say what Clara will be to them just yet, plenty of possibilities ;)

I think Angel would be heartsbroken if the angry River she had was her actual daughter :( She already felt so terrible that her daughter was taken in the first place that having River being equally as mad and biting and bringing it up to 'punish' her for it would tear her apart :'(

I can't say if they'll save her from the Library...we'll have to wait and see }:)


	12. Night Terrors

Night Terrors

Mac was a more than a little quiet as she stood at her end of the console, the Doctor watching her more than he was actually piloting the box…which probably wasn't a good thing at all, but it couldn't be helped. He was worried. Berlin and River and his near poisoning had truly shaken her up terribly. All he wanted was for her to talk to him about it, but he didn't want to push her. They'd settled into a little routine he was loathe to break with the wrong word at the wrong time. Mac had 'unofficially' moved into his room, and he was just tickled about that. At first it had been because she'd been worried for him, worried that he wasn't completely healed (and he may or may not have put on airs of not being up to full strength to get her to stay with him a bit longer) and also that she'd sleep and wake and think he'd been killed. It was reassurance at first and, yes, at times he'd had to wake her from a nightmare or two about his poisoning so he was both touched she had been affected by it and sorrowful that it was still plaguing her even now that he was healed again. But...he couldn't deny that waking with her in his arms was one of the highlights of his day. Time Lords rarely needed as much sleep as humans did…but he'd been poisoned so if he happened to go to sleep a bit more and tugged Mac with him, the was perfectly content with that.

They hadn't done anything beyond just sleep in each other's arms, he knew that she wasn't ready for that, and, to be honest, he wasn't sure he was either. Their entire relationship was as back to front and out of order as River's timeline was. They were Chosens before truly being that deeply in love, had a child before they'd even 'done the deed' so to speak (not that a child could come of it anyway), their daughter was grown up despite being born mere months ago…it was just all a jumbled mess and he didn't want to do anything to make it even more out of order. He was determined that love, a true and deep and profound love, would come before anything that physical if he had anything to say about it.

Still, he truly wished she'd speak to him about what had her so silent. Her first self he could read like a book, always knew what was bothering her. She wore her heart on her sleeve in the biggest way, all her fretting made her a pacer and when she started pacing she'd mumble what was bothering her, getting herself worked up. It wasn't hard to work out what was wrong with her then. But this new her…well, it was new, it wasn't her first self, so open, it wasn't her last self, so closed off, this new her was like a cross between the two. He could tell something was wrong, but she wasn't saying.

He had little time to think on that though as he felt something hot strike his pocket and pulled out the psychic paper to read, "'Please save me from the monsters,'" he said out loud, looking at Mac before he handed her the paper. She didn't even hesitate to get to work putting a trace on the message to follow it back. He smiled, at least they could talk during this trip, "Haven't done this in a while!" he mused, moving to help her.

"Done what?" Amy asked, from where she was standing by the railing with Rory, "What're you doing?"

"Making a house call!" he grinned, pulling a lever and they were off.

~8~

The TARDIS touched down just outside a small courtyard of a flat complex, the Council Estates according to the sign. It must have just rained recently as there were small puddles scattered around and the ground was wet as the small group made their way out of the TARDIS and looked around. It was night time but the location wasn't quite so impressive that they thought it would warrant the Doctor needing to make a housecall, at least not to the humans. It was just an ordinary complex.

"No offence, Doctor..." Rory began.

"Meaning the opposite," the Doctor called as he stepped out of the box.

"...but we could get a bus somewhere like this."

"You could WALK somewhere like this too," Mac mused, eyeing the estate.

"So the exact opposite then," the Doctor closed the doors behind him.

"Well, I suppose it can't all be planets and history and stuff, Rory," Amy shrugged.

"Yes, it can!" the Doctor defended, "Course it can! Planets and history and stuff. That's what we do! But not today. No," he pulled out the sonic and started to scan around the courtyard as they stepped into it, trying to get a trace of the psychic paper's message sender, but there was an odd force in the complex that was blocking it, "Today, we're answering a cry for help from the scariest place in the universe…a child's bedroom."

The small group made their way over to the building, heading for the lift to try and get to the middle of the complex, just for a place to start looking. The Doctor pulled out the psychic paper to see if the message was still being sent, it was still there.

"'Please save me from the monsters,'" Rory read over the Doctor's arm, "Who sent that?"

The Doctor didn't answer, just slapped Rory playfully on the head with the paper.

"It's why we're here Rory," Mac spoke, "Anyone that can send the Doctor a message like that from so far away is worth looking into."

"Sounds like something a kid would say," Amy mused.

"Exactly," the Doctor said slowly, seeing Mac stiffen beside him and look away, "A scared kid. A very scared kid," he frowned, seeing her close her eyes, "So scared that somehow its cry for help got through to us. In the TARDIS."

"Yeah, but you've traced it here?"

"For the moment," Mac agreed as the lift arrived, all of them stepping in, "We can't be sure if it'll change or fluctuate or if it's going to move or disappear."

"So we'd best find it fast," the Doctor nodded, "Time to split up gang."

~8~

The idea to split up likely could have been a good one…if it had resulted in anything more than Mac finding a string of rather unhappy tenants, and one sweet little boy who insisted on showing her his puppy, that had been the most memorable. The dog had tried to follow her down the hall which had the boy running after it, which had the boy's mother running after him. It was amusing, and heartsbreaking all at the same time. She couldn't help but wonder if Merina would have wanted an animal at one point, if she would have gotten one, what sort it would be. Knowing how like the Doctor she was…she'd probably want something dangerous like a panther.

Mac headed down the stairs towards the others, all of them gathering on the Doctor's level, though the man himself was staring out at the other side of the complex on the level Amy had just been on.

"Hey!" Amy greeted as they all met by the lift, "Any luck?"

"Four single fathers, 1 frazzled mother on the way to work, a boy with a puppy, and a few others," Mac offered, "Nothing like a scared child among them. What about you, Doctor?"

"Three old ladies, a traffic warden from Croatia and a man with ten cats!" he grinned.

"What are we actually looking for?" Rory frowned, if they just knew that, they'd be in a better place to go from.

"Ten cats!" the Doctor repeated.

"A um, a scared child, Rory," Mac reminded him, starting to shift back and forth, seeing that little boy and his excitement over his puppy had thrown her off her game.

"I found scary kids," Amy shrugged, "Does that count?"

"Try the next floor down," the Doctor remarked, "Kenzie and I will catch you later," he moved to take Mac's hand, but she stepped away.

"I um, I think I'll actually go with Amy and Rory this time Doctor," Mac hesitated.

He blinked and frowned at that, "What and leave me alone?" he wasn't really concerned about him. He should have known that the moment he offered Amy and Rory head off themselves that she'd want to go with them for protection…but they were just knocking on doors, nothing to dangerous if they were together.

"You won't be," Mac bit her lip, "You'll be there, with the child if you find it…"

The Doctor raised his chin slightly at that, understanding creeping into him. Merina had been his daughter yes, but he'd known her such a short time. It hurt him terribly to lose her the way they had, and he took a great amount of solace in knowing she grew up to be River Song. But he could understand that it was harder for Mac to do that. She'd held the baby and nurtured it for a month before losing their daughter right in her own arms, and to lose her after losing Teddy and her first child…it was bound to leave an impact. He'd heard her voice crack when she mentioned the boy with the puppy as well and it hit him…

Mac didn't want to be around the child.

"Alright," he breathed, reaching out to take her hand, "Just this once though eh?" he knew it wouldn't ever be just this once. They could both handle themselves just fine, but the humans always seemed to need some looking after, she'd always (or most likely) pick going with the humans when they split up than going with him. Which he understood and loved her all the more for.

"Thanks," she smiled, tugging him closer by the hand he was holding to kiss his cheek, smiling with a small laugh as he quickly turned his head to catch her lips in a peck instead, "Be careful."

He nodded, winking at her as he saluted before he headed off.

"Maybe it was, you know...junk mail," Rory offered as he hit the button for the lift.

"What?" Amy glanced at him.

"The message on the psychic paper. Maybe it was just nothing."

"You humans," Mac sighed as the lift arrived and Rory and Amy got in, her joining them, "There's stairs right next to the lift and it's ONE floor and yet you insist on taking this down."

The moment the doors closed, however, Mac's voice, as well as Amy and Rory's turned into a scream as the lift began to plummet to the ground.

~8~

"Amelia?" Amy winced as she slowly woke to the feeling of someone shaking her, "Rory?" she heard the same voice, Mac's voice, calling to her and Rory, "Are you both alright?"

"Ow…" Rory groaned as he slowly woke, and looked around frantically, "Amy? Amy? Are you here?"

Mac reached into her pocket and pulled out her penlight, turning it on to illuminate the rather dark room they'd woken in, to reveal Amy moving to sit up, rubbing her head as Rory reached for her, hugging her close. She pulled out a few glow sticks for them and looked around once the room was lighter. It was like a dining room, a large wooden table set up with food scattered over it, large windows on the sides of the room but no light was shining through them.

She shook her head and looked at the humans, "Are you both ok?" she repeated.

"I'm fine," Rory nodded, glancing at Amy, "Amy?"

"Good," she agreed.

"Brilliant," Mac let out a breath of relief, she'd been trying to see if they were injured before, Time Lords were a little bit better than humans at seeing in the dark, but she couldn't see any deadly wounds on them, which meant it had to be just them unconscious. Time Lords were also a bit more resilient as well, as the Doctor and she had proved when they'd gotten hit by the cricket bat of Amy's.

"What happened to the lift?" Rory looked at Mac as she slowly stood, "We were in a lift, weren't we?"

"Yeah, yeah. We…I remember getting in and then..." Amy shook her head, glancing over when Rory groaned.

"What's wrong Rory?" Mac was at his side, checking him as he tried to stand, "Were you hurt? Are you injured? Are you bleeding? Or…"

"I'm fine," Rory managed a small laugh at that, "I just…we're dead, aren't we?"

"What makes you say that?" Mac laughed.

"The lift fell."

"The TARDIS falls all the time, if you can survive a less than reliable spaceship, I'm sure you can survive a lift fall," Mac patted him on the shoulder.

"Come on," Amy looked around, "Let's just find out where we are," she took Rory's hand and they all stepped into the hallway, looking around. It was slightly better lighting out there than in the room, but still spooky.

"You know, speaking of the TARDIS, it's obvious what's happened," Rory remarked.

"Yeah?" Amy scoffed, "Really? Because it's not obvious to me."

"The TARDIS has gone funny again. Some time...slippy...thing."

"Please don't say that Rory," Mac glanced at him, "you sound like the Doctor when you do that with his wibbley levers and all. If you don't know a term, just say spatio-temporal event or something."

"Right," Rory gave her an odd look, thinking she made up that term as well, "So the Doctor's back there in EastEnders-land and we're stuck here in the past. This is probably 1700 and something."

"Yay!" Amy joked, "My favorite year!"

"Actually, modern era," Mac shook her head, when they looked at her, "Just because I prefer running environment checks doesn't mean I don't know how to sense time and space. I am a TIME Lady."

~8~

The small trio walked through a doorway and into the kitchen of the house they'd found themselves in. It was as dark as the other rooms, but even more disused. There were cobwebs everywhere, clutter, dust, hardly livable despite all the utensils and shelves and fireplaces scattered around. Mac frowned as she saw a loaf of bread sitting on a table and poked it…only to realize it was entirely made of wood but painted to look like bread.

_"_Bit neglected, wherever it is," Amy remarked.

"Bit fake too," Mac mused, moving over to the pans and looking them, "It seems like everything's wood. The bread, the pans…" she held one up, it looked copper but it was only painted that way, "It's paint…"

"That's stupid," Rory frowned at it, before shaking his head, trying to focus back on their current predicament, "Let's find the front door, at least. Then we can work out where we are," Mac had tried to get a sense of it, but she just kept coming up with Earth, with the Council Estate in fact, which made no sense to either of them.

"Let's just check the drawers first," Mac suggested, "In case there's anything there that might be useful."

They nodded and moved to do just that, the humans flinching when they spotted a giant eye staring out at them and gave a small scream that had Mac rushing over to them.

"Really?" she gave them a look, before knocking on the eye, "The pots and pans and food are made of wood and you didn't think this might be too?"

"Didn't sound like wood," Rory muttered.

"It's glass," Mac agreed, "But still…it was obviously fake," she sighed, "Now I know what the Doctor felt when Mickey found the rats in that school…" it had been a file she'd read, an account given by Mickey Smith and Sarah Jane Smith about the Krillitanes.

Amy glanced over when their torches flickered five times, "Stop doing that."

"YOURS is too," Mac pointed out, nodding at the glow stick in Amy's hand, how even THAT was flickering too.

"Come on," Rory nodded, leading them out.

"Hang on," Amy picked up one of the 'metal' pans to use as a weapon before they headed out of the room.

~8~

"Let's try down here," Rory called as they headed down a different hall to the front door. It was a large set of doors, a grandfather clock sitting to the side with a staircase behind them, a few other doors scattered around them, "Oh, at last," he grinned, rushing for the doors, only to groan as he reached them.

"What's wrong?" Mac joined him.

"No doorknob! Wooden pans, a massive glass eyes, and now no doorknob!"

"And this clock," Amy called, pointing at the grandfather clock.

"What about it?" Mac moved over to her as well.

"Look, the hands, they're painted on," they spun around, hearing someone laughing behind them.

Rory put a finger to his lips and headed for the door in the back, where the laughter seemed to be coming from, but as they reached the door, they could hear it getting louder.

"They're getting closer!" Amy breathed.

"They?!" Rory gaped.

"It's ok," Mac reassured them, "I won't let anything happen to either of you," she promised, before she moved ahead of them and threw open the door…only to see a life-sized wooden doll with a rather large head was the only thing there.

"It's just…it's a dummy," Amy let out a breath of relief, "Oh, it's a dummy."

"This is... weird," Rory eyed it, seeing the paint on its face was chipping off.

"Says the time-travelling nurse."

Mac frowned and grabbed Rory's hand as he tried to reach out and knock on the head, "Best not," she remarked, "I've seen people get sucked into rubbish bins by plastic just from touching it and we don't want you to turn into a Centurion again. Come on," she turned and led the way out of the room.

~8~

"Why aren't there any lights?" Rory wondered as they wandered through another hall, making Mac curious as to just how many floors and wings this house had, "I miss lights. You don't really miss things till they're gone, do you? That's what my nan used to say, 'You'll never miss the water till the well runs dry.'"

"We have something like that on Gallifrey," Mac mused, "You never realize how much time you had till it's run out."

Rory looked over, seeing her looking down and knew her thoughts had likely gone to the Doctor and to the lake. He felt a bit bad. All that time he'd been focusing on Amy and how she was handling what they saw…he'd forgotten about Mac. It had to be twice as hard for her because, while the Doctor was Amy's friend, he was Mac's Chosen. She'd told him about it once, after they'd dealt with the siren, what a Chosen was. Essentially it was just a chosen partner, someone a Time Lord got to choose to be with instead of someone they were contracted to be with.

He stepped closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze, "Well, you know, in this case it's light, not water or time. Lights are great, aren't they? I mean if this place was all lit up, we wouldn't even be worried at all."

"I'm not exactly worried now," Mac smiled at him, seeing he was nervous.

"Really?"both Amy and Rory seemed skeptical of that.

"As long as we don't see any spiders or Daleks, I'm golden," Mac nodded, "And I'll take care of you," she crossed her hearts, "Why do you think I'm always branching off to go with one of you when we split from the Doctor."

"To protect us," Amy smiled.

"Yeah," she laughed, "I think I've done an ok job so far."

And, as was the curse with Time Lords, the moment those words left her mouth, a man Rory recognized as Mr. Purcell, the landlord of the Council Estate, came running down the hall, screaming bloody murder, "Help me! Please! Keep them away from me! Keep them away!"

They nearly jerked back when one of the life-sized dolls…one that was now moving…grabbed him by the neck from behind and shoved him to the floor. They watched in horror as the man screamed, slowly morphing into one that looked like a soldier.

"Run!" Mac grabbed the humans by the arms and pulled them away, shoving them into running as the dolls turned to follow them down the hall.

"Don't run away," the dolls called, "We want to play!"

"In there!" Mac pointed to an open door. They ran in, shutting the door in the dolls' faces and leaning heavily against it as the laughter echoed from outside the door. Mac knelt down and slid a flat mirror under the door, tilting it up to see the dolls step back from the door for a moment, making the humans sigh and, "Don't relax!" she whisper-hissed at them, seeing the doll's trick as they returned to bang on the door.

"Lock it!" Amy cried.

"There isn't a lock!" Rory shook his head.

"Then barricade it," Mac moved to what looked like a giant spool of thread and shoved it in front of the door, helping to keep it closed as Amy ran to gather more things around the room for them to use to guard themselves.

"Ok…" Amy breathed, "Now what?"

"Now," Mac looked around, "Now I go resource hunting," she smiled, seeing just what she needed.

~8~

Amy watched as Mac tied the last bit of string to…whatever it was she was making. It had been quite amusing to watch Mac tear the little room apart, if not a bit frightening as well. Mac looked adorable in her dress and cardigan, hardly threatening. Funny how your perspective could change when you see someone grab a chair and start to smash it against the wall for no apparent reason. She was quite sure Rory had nearly had a heart attack at the sight.

"Are you done with…whatever it is that is?" Amy asked as Mac stood from where she was sitting on the floor.

"Just about," Mac nodded, "Here," she held out two legs of the chair to them, the ends wrapped with paper upon paper from the books that used to be in the room, tied with string on numerous layers, "It won't last long, but it should be enough to get us out of this room and somewhere safer."

"You…made torches?" Rory blinked at the legs, "But we had lights…"

"Wood and fire Rory?" Mac patted his arm, "If you were a wooden dolly would you want to be anywhere near a fire?"

"That is brilliant," Amy stared at her.

"I did a little trick like this once before," Mac looked at the one torch in her hand, a sad expression starting to take over her face that had the Ponds looking at each other in concern. But she shook her head and pulled out a lighter, "Ready?"

Amy and Rory merely held their torches out for her to light.

"Ok," Amy nodded as she looked at her torch, Rory moving to push the spool and the few other objects they'd used for the barricade away, "When we open the door, we push past them. Kick them. Punch them. Anything."

"Got it," Rory agreed.

"Time to play!" they could hear the dolls giggling…that is, until they opened the door and thrust their torches out at them. The dolls jumped away, trying to avoid them as they swished the flaming wood at them, forcing them to back up enough for them to get past, reaching a set of stairs and bolting up it.

They ran through the halls just as the torches died out, the dolls starting to chase after them as they realized the fire was gone for the moment.

"Do you hear that?" Mac gasped, stopping for a moment.

"Keep going!" Amy grabbed her hand and pulled her on.

"This way," Mac tugged them to the side, leading them towards a voice they could hear shouting in the distance.

"George! GEORGE! You're the only one who can stop this, but you have to believe!"

"Is that the Doctor?" Amy paused this time, Mac pulling her to keep going now.

"Yes!" Mac agreed and they ran for the sound of him yelling out to 'George,' likely the child that they'd been searching for.

"You have to believe, you have to know you're safe! I can't save you from the monsters. Only you can! George, Listen to me! George! Listen to me!"

"Doctor!" Rory cried as they reached the stairs, all three of them able to see the Doctor and another man with short black hair heading up the stairs, a wooden doll after the man as he tried to fend it off with an oversized pair of safety scissors.

"Mac!" Amy gasped, jumping back the three of them stumbling down the stairs as the dolls caught up.

Mac quickly lit the end of the last torch she'd made, the 4th leg of the chair, and waved it at the dolls to keep them back, "Doctor, what's going on?" she called to him.

"Something I'm hoping will be resolved quite soon," he tried to wave it off, before yelling out to someone who wasn't there, "George! George, you have to face your fears. You have to face them now! You have to open the cupboard or we'll all be trapped here forever in a living death! George! George, listen to me! George! George listen to me! George!" he reached out and tugged Mac back, closer to him, the Ponds already behind him as the dolls surrounded them, "Please! George, you have to end this! End this end this. End this now!"

And suddenly…the dolls stopped.

The Doctor looked round and spotted a little boy standing in the center of the room, down the stairs in the main foyer, just before the doors and the painted grandfather clock, "George! George! You did it! You did it! It's ok, it's all ok now. Everything's going to be fine," but then the dolls started to move, heading down for George, "No. No. No, no, no, no, no!" he rushed to the banister to call down to the boy, "George, you created this whole world. This whole thing, you can smash it! You can destroy it!"

Mac frowned when she saw him shaking his head, "He can't do it," Mac looked at the Doctor, "He's too scared."

"Scared…" the Doctor breathed, thinking back to something before he rounded on the man beside him, George's father no doubt, "That's what did it. That's what the trigger was. He thought you were rejecting him. He thought he wasn't wanted. That someone was going to come and take him away."

"Well, we... we talked about it," the man muttered.

"Yeah, and he heard you, Alex. A Tenza's sole function is to fit in, to be wanted, and you were rejecting him."

"He's a Tenza?!" Mac looked down at the boy again, Tenza were aliens that were able to adapt to whatever species needed them most.

"We just couldn't cope," Alex stated, "We needed help!"

"Yes, but George didn't know that!" the Doctor cried, "He thought you were rejecting him. He still thinks it."

"But how can we keep him? How can we? He's not..."

"What, human?" Mac scoffed, "All that should matter is that that boy down there who's terrified out of his mind is your child, your son."

Alex looked at her for a moment, when he heard George give a terrified call of 'Dad!' and took off running down the stairs, the others watching as he pushed his way through the dolls and to his son's side, hugging him tightly, whispering words of comfort to him as a bright light started to fill the room…

~8~

The lift doors opened and the Ponds and Mac were standing there.

"Weird," was all Amy could remark.

"Yeah," Rory agreed.

"Come on," Mac shook her head, "Back to the TARDIS."

"Shouldn't we wait for the Doctor?" Amy asked.

But Mac just kept walking, forcing the Ponds to go after her, she just…she couldn't be in that complex.

~8~

The Doctor grinned widely as he entered the console room to see the Ponds there, "Now," he clapped his hands, "Did someone mention something about planets and history and stuff? Where do you want to…where's Kenzie?" he frowned, looking around, spinning in a circle as though he'd be able to find her.

"She um…she said she wanted to lie down," Rory shrugged.

The Doctor frowned at that but turned and headed off into the halls, to the room he'd come to share with her. He held his breath, opening the door, and let it out when he saw she was in there, she'd gone to THEIR room and not her room. That had to make it official, didn't it, that she'd gone there and not to another room? He didn't really stop to think on it much as he headed into the room and over to Mac's side, lying down on the bed with her, "Why didn't you want to deal with George?" he asked her, wrapping his arms around her, he knew that was the reason why she'd insisted on going with the Ponds.

She was quiet a long while, "I'm dangerous."

He let out a loud snort at that, "You?" he gave her a bit of a squeeze, "Hardly."

"Three children have died because of me," she murmured, staring at the wall across from her, "Even more end up in danger. I shouldn't be allowed around them. I'm bad luck."

The Doctor was silent this time, "Your firstborn wasn't your fault. I blame your husband for not being more attentive to notice something was wrong…"

"It was ectopic Theta," she cut in, "It was just my body and how it went, which makes it my fault."

"Teddy's alive," he reminded her.

"But he was shot first."

"And River's out there, making her own life…"

"And died," she interrupted again, "Twice and she…" she cut herself off.

"What?" he waited a moment before turning her in his arms to face him, his hearts breaking to see her expression, the tears in her eyes, "Naery what…"

"The Library," she breathed, feeling like she couldn't, like she couldn't get enough air into her lungs, "River…our daughter…she's going to go to the Library. She's going to die. Parents shouldn't have to see their children die…"

"Naey…"

"And I didn't know," she started to cry, the truth of it all coming out. He knew that seeing River, learning who she really was to them, it was tearing her apart, "I didn't know she was my daughter and I treated everyone so badly and she…she died and I didn't know she was my daughter. I watched her die and I…I just let it happen! I looked right through her like she was just some future companion or something…"

The Doctor pulled her into his arms tighter, "Naery neither of us knew who River was. It wasn't our fault…she was probably wearing that bracelet of yours under her suit," he murmured, "She didn't say, and she didn't look like us because she'd regenerated by then. We couldn't have known unless she said…"

"She should have."

"Would we have believed her?" the subtle, would YOU have believed her, wasn't lost on her.

"No," she admitted after a moment.

"She couldn't say because, at that point, we hadn't even met her before. We did everything we could so that SHE wouldn't have to do it, daughter or not. She…" he swallowed hard, he didn't want to think of it either but, "She made her choice to save us, to save herself…"

"She died, how was that saving herself?"

"If she hadn't, we never would have been around for her to be created," he mused, "And then she wouldn't be there to save us. Nasty little paradox. It's an evil one, I know, but…River made her choice to give her life to save not just us but over 4000 people," he looked down at her, "That's very us."

"That's very you," she murmured, "Giving your life for others."

"You as well," he touched her cheek, "The archaeologist, eh?" it had been an interest of hers ages, "That was…a horrible thing to see," he agreed, "But you know what it tells me?"

"What?"

"That our daughter will grow up to be one of the most incredible women ever," he whispered, "With strength and wit and fortitude. She'll have a strong sense of self, a selfless nature, and she will make us the proudest parents in the universe with each and everything she'll do…besides trying to murder me in Berlin."

Mac smiled at that, "She's a wonderful girl."

"Incredible," he corrected, "And she gets it all from her mother you know," he looked at her, "I wasn't there with her as long as you. The woman she'll be…I like to think it's because of YOU that she'll be that way. You did a brilliant job with her and for her to be as strong as she is…no," he shook his head, "I don't think that you are bad luck, I don't think you endanger children. I think you make them better, stronger."

"I think that's you, Theta."

"No," he stroked her cheek, "You were always a mother Naery, to everyone. And any child out there would be lucky to have you protecting them and fighting for them and caring for them. I should know," he smirked, "I'm the biggest child of them all."

Mac looked at him and smiled, leaning in to kiss, not his cheek this time, but his lips in thanks.

A/N: Flirting was a little toned down the last few chapters :( But I can say it'll pick up very soon ;) Poor Mac though, everything really got to her :( Lucky she has a Doctor to make her feel better ;)

I think this is the shortest episode-chapter for Series 6 lol :)

And I want to apologize :( I mentioned yesterday that I'd try to do a double whammy today to make up for Friday, my mother decided to spring on me last night the fact that we're both supposed to go to my sister's college's 'Family Day' today from 1 till about 7pm. I won't have access to a computer for the rest of the day so I can't get the second chapter up. I've repeatedly asked my parents to give me at least 2 days of warning before they do things like promise I'll be somewhere. I mean, of course, I'll go, it's Family Day and she's graduating this year (^-^) but I would have liked to have been able to know that with more than 15 hours notice :( To make matters worse, I got a new computer yesterday (yay!) but when I went to hook it up, they gave me the wrong wire for the monitor and none of the ones in my house were compatible. And with it being Sunday and the Blue Laws in my county, I had to drive to a different one just to get the right cable to get the monitor up so that I could see what I was doing :( I just got back about 15 minutes ago and I have to leave in 15 minutes -sigh- I really am starting to think April is a cursed month for me, hopefully May will be better :)

But that means the double whammy will have to be postponed to probably Tuesday sorry :( But it WILL happen ;)

Some notes on reviews...

I had a PC, my sister swears by the Macs that they don't get viruses (I find it just a little hard to believe) but I tried using a Mac once I really don't like them :( But thanks, I'll definitely check out the anti-virus :) I'm really glad River didn't administer the poison the same way as in the show too...eww...lol :)

We'll have to wait and see what will come of River after the Library ;)

I can say it won't be Mac's thing to take in kids that aren't hers, all children so far are hers so we'll have to wait and see who Clara is ;)


	13. The Girl Who Waited

The Girl Who Waited

Mac was feeling a little better about everything, the Doctor could tell, she was moving around the console more, talking more, smiling more. He was almost dreading bringing up something that he really needed to talk to her about. It was something rather big and important but he'd been holding off on it because he hadn't wanted to overload her with other troubles. This was a sort of…buttering up trip, in a way. As he'd once said to Amy about Vincent, life was a pile of good and bad things, and he really wanted to give her a good thing to remember before he brought up something that was likely to be a very bad thing. He was really trying to avoid having to bring it up, but he really did need to speak to her about it. He knew she was keeping something from him still, the Ponds as well, but he was fairly certain he'd worked it out through many different sources and fragments and if he confronted her with it and he was right…then maybe she'd tell him what he wanted to know. He was pretty sure he knew just about everything, but her perspective would help fill in the gaps.

He smiled wider when he saw her look up at him and smile in return, so he slapped down a lever, setting them down, "Apalapucia!" he cheered.

"Say it again?" Amy laughed at the odd word.

"Apalapucia?" Mac repeated instead, a happier smile on her face than before at the thought of the beautiful place.

"Apalapu..."

"Cia," the Doctor finished.

"Apalapucia," Rory got it in one.

The Doctor laughed and pointed at him, "Apalapucia," he agreed, making his way around the console and to Mac's side, winding an arm around her waist, "What do you think Kenzie? Sound good?"

"Sounds wonderful," she gave a small laugh and he beamed, leaning in to give her temple a kiss.

"Apalapucia," Amy felt herself smile at the word, "What a beautiful word."

"Oh it's a lovely place too Amy," Mac breathed out, "I can't believe you remembered!" she looked at the Doctor.

"What that you've wanted to visit there for forever?" he tapped her on the nose. Truth be told, he knew it had been the place she'd wanted to spend her honeymoon if she ever had a Chosen. Even though they hadn't declared themselves as it on Gallifrey, they HAD talked, when they'd been younger, before they'd started to fall for each other, what they'd do if they ever found a Chosen. Neither of them got to see those plans go through, but…there was hope now. Even if it was out of order.

Yet another beautiful and fantastic thing in their out of order relationship, a honeymoon before marriage, before even a proposal.

He loved it.

"Apalapucia, voted number two planet in the top ten greatest destinations for the discerning intergalactic traveler," the Doctor nodded.

"Why couldn't we go to number one?" Rory frowned.

"You really wouldn't," Mac grimaced at the thought of it.

"It's hideous," the Doctor agreed, "Everyone goes to number one. Planet of the coffee shops. Apalapucia! I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades!" he rushed to the doors, "I give you..." and threw them open to reveal nothing but a pristine white space with a set of grey double doors before them.

"Doors," Rory stated as they stepped out.

"Doors CAN open though Rory," Mac laughed at the pout on the Doctor's face, "Beware what may be on the other side," she joked, linking her arm with Rory's…only to find herself spun out of his hold and into the Doctor's arms, laughing as he spun her in a bit of a waltz before he put his arm around her shoulders.

"On the other side of those doors," the Doctor mocked lightly, "I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades."

Amy peeked her head out of the TARDIS, not stepping out just yet, "Have you seen my phone?"

"Your phone?" the Doctor glanced back at her.

"Yeah."

"Your mobile telephone? I bring you to a paradise planet, two billion light years away, and you want to update Twitter?"

"Sunsets. Spires. Soaring silver colonnades. It's a _camera_ phone."

He rolled his eyes at that, "On the counter, by the DVDs."

Amy smiled at that and popped back in with a, "Thank you!"

"How do we…" Rory began.

But Mac cut him off, "If you really feel the need to ask how to open a door Rory," she gave him a look.

He laughed, "But really how?" he looked at the doors, "Do they just open or do we need a code or a voice thing?"

"What would the Doctor do?" she asked, before making the 'stop talking' sign to prevent the Doctor from answer.

"With or without a sonic?"

"Without."

"Keep pushing buttons."

"So…" she gave him a look.

Rory looked over and saw two right at the side of the doors and pushed the one on top. It was green, a green anchor, with a red waterfall below it, and well, green meant 'go' didn't it? The doors slid open and revealed nothing like spires or colonnades but just another white room. This one though had a table on it, with a large magnifying glass sitting on top of it, two chairs before it, and that was all.

"Ok," the Doctor sighed, pouting as the doors closed behind them, "So, rain check on the soaring silver colonnades," he looked at Mac, "Sorry Kenzie."

Mac patted his shoulder, "Maybe we just hit the wrong button," she shrugged.

"It's a magnifying glass…" Rory stepped over to it, more curious as to why it was just sitting there for no apparent reason, drawing the Time Lords over to it as well.

"Hey?" Amy's voice called from behind them, through the doors, "Hey, it's locked!"

"Yeah, push the button," Rory shouted, but Amy didn't appear, so he headed for the doors, "Come on, Amy!" still she didn't open the doors so he opened them himself, hitting a white button on the wall and stepping out to go find her…only to return moments later without Amy, "Where is she? Where on wherever we are is my wife?"

The Doctor, taking a leaf out of his own book, pushed a button on the magnifying glass and a hazy image of Amy appeared in it, a red waterfall on the wall behind her, much like a green anchor was behind them, "Rory... I think I've found her."

Amy frowned and headed over beside where he was sitting, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders as she saw the image on the glass, "How…" Mac moved to walk around the table.

"What do you mean you've found her?" Rory joined them, nearly jumping back when he saw Amy there but…not THERE, "Whoa! No, but, she's not... she's not here! I can see her, but she's not here."

"Where am I?" Amy called, getting closer to glass, peeking out at them through it, "In fact, where are you?"

They looked over as the doors to the room opened and a white robot stood there, a blank face, no eyes, walking rather stiffly…but with quite skin-like hands held up at them, palm up, "Whoa," Rory stared at it.

"Hands!" the Doctor pointed at the robot, noting the hands as well while Mac crouched before the glass on the other side of the table, eyeing it closely, "Hello. Hands. Handbot with hands, Rory."

"Welcome to the Twostreams Facility," the robot stated, "Will you be visiting long?"

"Er," Amy called, "Something's happening."

The Doctor rushed back over as the picture went to static, "Amy!" he soniced the glass, trying to get the picture restored, Amy screaming on the other side, "Stay calm! Stay still! Ah, time's gone wobbly," he bashed the sonic on his hand a moment, before trying it again, "I hate it when it does that."

The Handbot moved closer to Rory, jutting out its hand at him, "Will you be visiting long?"

Rory jerked back, "Good question, bit sinister. What's the answer to not get us killed?"

"Doctor?" Mac looked at him, seeing him turn the sonic off.

He nodded, "It's ok, I've got her," he told her, looking back at Amy, "You're fine."

"Will you be visiting long?" the Handbot repeated.

"Um…someone," Rory glanced at them, "A little help?"

Mac glanced at the glass once more before moving closer to the Handbot, eyeing it. She looked at a panel on its back. She pulled a paperclip out and managed to pop it off, continually side stepping the robot as it tried to turn to her, managing to keep with it as it moved slowly enough. Eyeing the controls, trying to see how it worked.

"And where have you been?" Amy demanded, sitting at the table on her side of the glass, "I've been here a week!"

"A week?!" the Doctor blinked, "A week?! I'm so sorry! Aha! Same room, different times. Two time streams running parallel but at different speeds. Amy, you're in a faster time stream."

"Doctor," Amy groaned, "It's going again!"

"Amy!" the Doctor quickly soniced the glass, hearing Amy shouting for him, and finally got the connection back in place, right at the same time as Mac let out a small victorious whoop at getting the Handbot to freeze in place by touching its own hands together, noting the wiring that ran through the back of it directed at the hands.

"There," the Doctor grinned, "Stabilized, settled, shh!"

"Why's it got hands?" Mac eyed the hands closer now that the robot wasn't moving and jerking about again.

The Doctor scanned it with the sonic quickly, "Organic skin, ultimate universal interface, grown and grafted, not born. It's actually seeing with its fingers, scanning the room."

"Like a snake does with its tongue?" Rory blinked at that.

"Exactly," the Doctor pointed at him.

"Well that's rather stupid," Mac shook her head, "If they go through all that trouble to grow the skin, why not just build it eyes?"

Before the Doctor could answer, the Handbot jerked, powering up again, "Will you be visiting long?"

"As long as it takes," the Doctor nodded and moved back to Amy, "Amy, what exactly did you do?"

"I just, I came in, and I pressed the door button," Amy shrugged.

"Which one?" Mac asked.

"What?"

"There are two buttons," Rory told her, "Green anchor, red waterfall. Which one did you push?"

"I pushed the red waterfall."

Rory muttered something to himself, stepping out of the room to go find her, only to step back in with a confused frown moments later, "I pressed Red Waterfall, and she wasn't there!"

"I suppose you can't follow her directly then," Mac mused.

"You know, it's never simple!" the Doctor huffed, rounding on the Handbot once more, "Hear that, Handbot? She just pressed the wrong button. We're aliens, we didn't know."

"Statement..." the Handbot began, considering his words, a red light going off on its chest, "Rejected. Apalapucia is under planet-wide quarantine. This is a kindness facility for those infected with Chen7."

"Oh my god!" Mac gasped, quickly pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket for her mouth and nose, the Doctor doing the same but covering his face with his jacket.

"Chen7?" Rory frowned, covering his nose with his jacket as well.

"The one day plague," the Doctor breathed, looking at Mac with wide eyes, oh this was NOT how he was hoping this date would go.

"What, you get it for a day?"

"No, you get it, and you die in a day."

The Handbot straightened, "There are 40,000 residents in the Twostreams Facility. Please remain in the sterile areas. Visiting hours are now," it made a fist with both hands, pressing them together and teleporting away as the Time Lords slowly lowered their mouth coverings.

"Sterile area," Mac breathed in relief, "It's ok…"

"What about me!?" Amy cried, smacking the glass.

"As long as you've only got one heart, Amy, you're fine," Mac told her.

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "Chen7 only affects two-hearted races like Apalapucians."

"And Time Lords," Rory realized, understanding the Time Lords' reactions now.

"Yeah, like us," the Doctor swallowed hard and tugged Mac closer to him, his hearts clenching painfully at the thought that he'd nearly led her into such danger. If Rory had picked the wrong button…they'd both be dead now, no regeneration for her.

"And that means we can't go get her, physically at least," Mac bit her lip, "We'd die and we wouldn't be able to regenerate."

"Time moves faster on Amy's side of the glass," the Doctor mused, "Amy, you said you'd been here a week. What did you eat?"

"Nothing," she shrugged, "I wasn't hungry."

"No, because Red Waterfall time is compressed. That's the point. The Time Glass syncs up the timestreams for visits. You could be here for a day, watch them live out their entire lives."

"And watch them grow old in front of your eyes?" Rory shook his head at the thought, "That's horrible."

"Not entirely," Mac argued lightly, "You sit here and their timeline is tethered. 24 hours here is an entire lifetime over there. They get to live out the entirety of their lives that way."

The Doctor quickly reached out and pulled the time glass from the stand, only to hear Amy shout, "Doctor?! Rory, don't leave me!"

"It must have broken the connection with her glass," Mac realized, "It's alright sweetie," she called, hoping Amy could hear them.

The Doctor turned, moving the glass around, holding it up where Amy had been sitting last, "We're here, Amy. We're right here."

"Where are you?" she looked round and they realized that the broken connection must mean that she couldn't see them despite them seeing her, thankfully she could still hear them, "Am I looking at you?"

Mac reached out as he opened his mouth to tell her where to look and instead nudged him so they were in front of Amy, looking right at her, "Hello," Rory called.

"Amy," the Doctor began, "We're taking the Time Glass back to the TARDIS. Like satnav, Kenzie and I'll use it to get a lock, then smash through, using the TARDIS to get you out. Until then, you're on your own," he soniced the glass, handing it to Mac to hold for the moment.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"He's trying to get a fix on Amy so that we can lock the TARDIS on her," Mac explained.

"Small act of vandalism, no one'll mind," the Doctor added and, just as he finished, the alarm sounded.

"Care to say that again Doctor?" Mac gave him an exasperated look.

"Amy," the Doctor winced and turned back to the glass, "We need you to go into the facility just for a bit. Find somewhere safe and leave me a sign. Remember, you're immune to Chen7, but don't let them give you anything. They don't know you're alien. Their kindness will kill you."

Amy nodded and stood, when Mac added, "The Handbots see through their hands," she warned, "They use heat signatures, so if you ever need to, try and find hotter places to hide to block your signal. They also seem to short out if you put their hands together."

"Thanks," Amy smiled, moving to the doors to enter the facility, pressing the button to open them before she turned to face them, "Rory, I love you. Now, save me. Go on."

Rory watched sadly as the doors slid shut, before the Time Lords took off, back to the TARDIS. They burst through the doors, the Doctor and Mac getting to work right away in trying to get back to Amy, calling out things to each other over the console, tossing each other needed devices and odds and ends, till the Doctor spun around to face him, "This is locked onto Amy permanently. Play the signal into the console, the TARDIS'll follow it," he grabbed a wire Mac tossed to him and attached it to the glass, making it smoke a bit.

Mac herself was looking through a small tool box that Rory recognized as one the Doctor had given her, a place to store some of her other odds and ends that were more to help the TARDIS, though there were quite a few other things in there he wasn't sure how it benefited the box, "There it is!" she cheered, pulling out a pair of black specs and placed them on Rory's nose.

"Um…why?" Rory just pointed at his face as his eyes went cross eyed.

"Rorycam," Mac told him, moving the monitor around to show him they were seeing everything he was.

"Got it," he nodded.

"We're breaking into Twostreams," the Doctor moved over to him as Mac dashed off below the console and started rooting around for something, "Now, we can't go in, the Chen7'll kill us, no regeneration. You will be our eyes and ears."

"Rorycam. Rescue Amy. Got it."

"That's the spirit! Now, smashing through a timewall could get a bit hairy…"

"Is it safe?"

"Don't know," the Doctor answered at the same time Mac shouted up, "Not remotely!"

The Doctor laughed and made his way to the railing, peering down at her, "And yet you're not trying to stop me."

"Because you'll manage it," she looked up at him.

"Bet your life?"

"Always," she laughed.

"Right then," he spun around to Rory, warning him, "Best hold onto something!" he ran to the console and pulled a lever, sending the box jerking and bucking as it broke through the time walls surrounding Twostreams, making the console spark a bit and the lights flicker but they finally landed with a hard thump that nearly sent the men to the floor.

"Oi!" Mac called as she landed on her bum, "You could have waited for me to get back to the console Doctor," Mac muttered, making her way up the stairs with a rather large…something in her arms.

"Is that a scuba kit?" Rory blinked at it. It looked like diving equipment, the tank and breathing apparatus at least, no sign of a wetsuit to follow.

"Yes," she nodded, "You might need help Rory so I was thinking I…"

"Absolutely not," the Doctor cut in, "You are NOT going into the Chen7 infected area," he wagged a finger at her.

"But…"

"No," he stepped over and took her hands, Kenzie…I need you with me. With all the compression of the timelines, you know the TARDIS isn't going to like it. She'll throw a fit and try to leave and I'll need someone to help me keep her put. And…" he looked away a moment, before taking a breath and looking at her, "I don't want you to die," he told her, "One wrong move, one nicked tube, one fall that knocks the tank too far away…" he trailed off, not wanting to think about it, "And if you ran out of oxygen…" he shook his head, "Please don't go," he whispered to her, resting his forehead to hers, "I would never wish Berlin on you again, don't make me experience the reverse," he added, not wanting to ever have to see Mac in such a state as he'd been in. Which would be nearly exact to the poisoning, yet he knew it would last a bit longer for her as Chen7 could take 24 hours before the victim died.

Mac sighed, "Rory will you be ok?"

He nodded, "Course I will, I'm just going to get Amy. I'll find her and bring her back no problems. And you'll be watching from the TARDIS, you can give me advice and help me."

Mac took a breath and looked at the Doctor, still staring at her with concern. She reached up to touch his cheek, "Alright," she murmured, "I'll stay here…"

He beamed widely at that and hugged her tightly.

~8~

The Time Lords watched as Rory slowly stepped out of the TARDIS, wearing the glasses, but with the Time Glass strapped to a belt he was wearing, "Red Waterfall!" he called out to them, before slowly closing the door, "We made it."

The Doctor and Mac moved over to the monitor to watch his progress, "Good old us!" he cheered.

"How do we know that we're in the same Red Waterfall as Amy?"

"Focus on the positive. We locked onto Amy's time stream…"

Mac reached out and covered the Doctor's eyes as Rory's gaze drifted from the art in the gallery he'd stepped into, to the Venus di Milo's chest, "Rory, that is NOT your wife!"

Rory seemed to jerk at that and looked away quickly, allowing Mac to pull her hand back, "Right, yes, sorry."

"Apalapucians are the great cultural scavengers, Rory," the Doctor chuckled, "This gallery's a scrapbook of their favorite places."

"Bit of Earth, bit of alien, bit of...whatever the hell that is," Rory looked around the room, noticing a rather alarming detail, "Where... is everyone?"

The Doctor and Mac looked at each other, frowning at that as well, "Right, Rory," the Doctor called as Mac moved to the controls on the opposite side of the console to help, "Switch the Time Glass on and sonic it. Kenzie'll send a command to the screwdriver. Amy's here somewhere. If we can just get a lock on her. I wonder what happens if we mix the filters?"

"Don't," Mac shook her head at him, "Just don't."

The Doctor laughed and looked at the monitor as Rory soniced the glass, holding it up to see thousands of people all out of focus. He frowned and glanced at Mac who was trying to get a lock on her, "It's still too fuzzy," she muttered, "The timelines are too compressed."

He sighed, "40,000 time streams overlapping. Red Waterfall isn't one time stream. It's thousands."

"Are they happy?" Rory had to wonder.

"Oh, Rory. Trust you to think of that. I think they're happy to be alive. Better than the alternative."

"Hold on…" Mac blinked, seeing something on the readings on her side, "Oh no…" she breathed, "Rory you need to get back now! Before you become an established…"

She couldn't even finish as Rory lowered the glass to see someone with long red hair in pieced together armor and a visor on their face rushing towards him with a katana in hand, sending him stumbling back, "I come in peace! Peace, peace, peace, peace!" he fell to the ground, holding up his hands as the person put the sword to his throat.

"I waited!" the person shouted as Mac made her way back to the Doctor's side, the voice was distorted, almost computerized.

"Sorry, what?"

"I waited for you!" the woman hissed, pulling the sword back, "I waited," and the visor lifted to reveal Amy, an older, wrinkled version of Amy.

"Amy," Rory breathed, "Doctor, Mac, what's going on?"

"I'm sorry Rory," Mac whispered, "I just saw it now…we're a few um, decades, off…" she'd been trying to get Rory back to the TARDIS. If they could get him out of there before he met the future Amy, there was a very small chance (but a chance!) that they could get out there and retrack Amy and find the present her.

"No!" Rory shouted as Amy lifted her katana again, "Please. Please!"

"Duck," was all Amy said before the image dropped to the ground as Rory ducked, turning to see Amy shove the sword through the head of a Handbot, sending it to the ground beside him, "Handbots carry a black box in case they go offline," Amy told him as he scrambled up, watching as she crouched beside it and started to fiddle with it, "I've changed the cause of termination from hostile to accidental. Easy to reprogram. Using my sonic probe."

"Amy…"

"Rory," Amy greeted, sending him a black glance over her shoulder.

"Why?"

"I've survived this long by making the Handbots think I don't exist. Don't touch the hands," she eyed the robot's hands, "Anaesthetic transfer, if they touch you, you go to sleep."

"But you're still here?"

Amy sent him a firm glare before she stood and strode off, "You didn't save me."

"_This_ is the saving!" he rushed after her, "This is the us saving you! They just got the timing a bit out!"

The Doctor winced at that, Mac biting her lip, but Amy hardly even stopped walking, "I've been on my own here a long, long time. I've had decades to think nice thoughts about him. Got a bit harder to stay charitable once I entered decade four."

"40 years?" Rory breathed, he knew Mac had said decades and he could guess by Amy's appearance how many that had been, but to hear it said…it broke his heart, "Alone?"

"36 years," Amy corrected, stopping to look at him, "Thanks!"

"No. Right, I mean... you look great. Really. Really."

Amy blinked when Rory's gaze drifted back to her face from where he'd been looking her over, "…Eyes front, soldier."

"Still can't win then?"

"In fact, I think I can now definitely say I hate him. I hate the Doctor. I hate him more than I've ever hated anyone in my life. You can hear every word of this through those ridiculous glasses, can't you, Raggedy Man?" she turned to glare at them through the glasses.

"Ah," the Doctor quickly reached out to flick a switch, "Yes. Putting the speaker phone on."

"You told me to wait. And I did. A lifetime."

"Amy..."

"You've got nothing to say to me!" Amy snapped.

"Look out!" Mac tried instead.

Amy spun around to see two Handbots had snuck up on them. She tossed something to Rory and ducked beneath the robot's arms, pushing the two hands together, making them both stop, "Feedback. Knocks them out. Thank you for the warning Mac," she said, her voice just a little lighter than it had been when addressing the Doctor. But why wouldn't she be a bit kinder to the woman who gave her two very good pieces of advice that had allowed her to make it alive so long, heat and feedback, two small things Mac had warned her of just incase she ran into trouble waiting…and it had kept her alive the entire time.

"Ok," Rory shook his head as he hurried after Amy as she strode off once more, "So we just take the TARDIS back to the right time stream, yeah? We can stop any of this happening."

"I'm sorry Rory, I tried to tell you before," Mac sighed.

"We locked on to a time stream," the Doctor finished, "This is it."

"Meeting this Amy, we've become a part of established events."

"This is so wrong," Rory muttered.

Amy scoffed, "I got old, Rory, what did you think was going to happen?"

But Rory grabbed her arm, stopping her, "Hey! I don't care that you got old! I care that we didn't grow old together. Amy, come on, please."

"Don't touch me," Amy shook her head, pulling her hand out of Rory's gently, "Don't do that," and turned to continue on.

"It's like you're not even her."

"36 years, three months, four days of solitary confinement, "Amy muttered, her accent thicker with no one there to influence it. She turned as she reached a set of large doors and spun to face them, "This facility was built to give people the chance to live. I walked in here and I died. Do you have anything to say? Anything, Doctor?"

"Where did you get a sonic screwdriver?" he chuckled.

"NOT the time Doctor," Mac shook her head at him.

Amy glared, "I made it. And it's a sonic probe."

"You made a sonic screwdriver?" Rory asked, impressed.

"Probe!" Amy huffed, before turning to storm through the doors behind her, Rory rushing to keep up.

He paused a moment as he entered a rather large sort of engine room or power station, when he noticed Amy had strode off quite a far distance ahead of him and hurried after her. She stepped through a small makeshift curtain and into a small space between two engines, Rory nearly jumping back as he saw a Handbot in the corner of the room, "Oh!"

"Don't worry about him," Amy waved it off and it turned to reveal a smiley face drawn on it with a tuft of hair, "Sit down, Rory."

Rory looked over, the Time Lords chuckling when the Robot sat as well, his name evident, "You named him after me?"

Amy nodded, turning to the back of the room to sift through her things, "Needed a bit of company."

"So, he's like your..."

"Pet."

The image shifted from Amy to the robot, "Is it safe?"

"Yep. I disarmed it."

"How?" and then his gaze drifted down to see that the hands had been cut off, "Oh, you... dis_arm_ed it."

"Oh, don't get sentimental, it's just a robot."

"Bit much though, don't you think?" Mac had to ask.

"You'd have done the same."

"I don't know that we would have," the Doctor countered.

"And there he is," Amy spat, turning around to stride back to Rory, to look into the glasses at them, at the Doctor, "The voice of God. Survive. Cos no one's going to come for you. Number one lesson. You taught me that. At least Mac had the decency to teach me something to HELP me survive!"

"Is that really all I taught you?"

"Don't you lecture me, blue-box man flying through time and space on whimsy. All I've got, all I've had for 36 years, is cold, hard reality. So, no, I don't have a sonic screwdriver because I'm not off on a romp. I call it what it is, a probe. And I call my life what it is... Hell."

"Well she's a bit dramatic," Mac murmured to the Doctor.

"Not really," he sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked at her, "You were trapped in the Pandorica for almost 2000 years," he reached out and touched her cheek, "The 2 minutes I was without you were torture," he smiled at her, "They were hell. I can't imagine 2 hours or 2 years, 2 decades would have killed me…and Amy was here nearly double that time."

Mac smiled at him softly for that, she'd nearly lost him as well and the 20 seconds that he'd fallen unconscious before their daughter gave up all her regenerations for him…they were hell for her too.

"Well then," she looked at him, "We better save her."

He grinned widely and turned back to the monitor, "Amy Pond, we are going to put this right. You said you learned from an Interface. Can we speak with it?"

"Doesn't work in here," Amy shook her head and checked her watch, "2:23, the garden'll be clear now. Stay or go?"

Rory started, not sure if she was talking to them or him, "Sorry, me? No, I'm coming with you!"

They could see the barest hint of a smile on Amy's face before it was gone, "Then try not to get killed. Or do. Whatever," she walked past him and Rory moved after her.

~8~

"When I first came here," Amy began as they stood in the garden, "I had to trick the Interface into giving me the information, but I've reprogrammed it now. It'll tell me anything except how to escape."

"You hacked it?" Rory breathed, sounding quite impressed, "That's genius!"

"Sorry to interrupt that beautiful moment," the Doctor called as Mac nodded from her side of the console, telling him she was ready to connect to the interface, "But temporal engines have a regulator valve, which has to be kept from the main reactor or there's feedback. Interface, where's the regulator?"

"The regulator valve is held within," the interface said as a hologram appeared on the monitor, Mac typing away and pulling levers elsewhere to try and get the information downloaded.

"Ah! Oh, very, very 'ah!'"

"Interface," Mac called, "I'm trying to connect to your technical specifications, Rory could you give the glasses to Amelia for a mo?"

"Here you go," Rory tugged the glasses off and they could see him try to put them on Amy, but she'd jerked back, so he handed them to her instead. And soon they could see Rory.

"They look ridiculous."

"Still, anything beats a fez, eh?" Rory joked, the two of them laughing at that when Amy stopped, "What is it?"

"I think that's the first time I've laughed in 36 years."

Rory looked away, "I'll just, um, leave you two geniuses alone. I'll be back in a minute," and Amy watched as he walked off.

"We CAN save you Amy," Mac moved over to the monitor, "There's time."

"It's still in flux," the Doctor agreed, "this doesn't have to be your fate. There's still time to fix everything."

Amy looked down at that, seeming to almost be considering their words…when a beep went off on her wrist. Her hand flew up, revealing the time to be 2:30 and she took off, shouting for Rory…only to see him on the ground, a Handbot standing over him, its head open and a medicinal dart about to fire at him. She swung the katana, cutting off the robot's head.

"Oh…" Rory groaned and Amy dropped to her knees beside him.

"Rory?"

"Glasses," he pointed at her.

Amy stood and turned away from him, "You stupid..."

"Oh! You saved me."

"Don't get used to it."

"Have you been crying? A little bit?"

"Shut up, Rory."

"You have, haven't you?"

"Woman with a sword," she pointed the katana at him, "Don't push it."

"As lovely as that moment is," Mac cut in, "We really do need to focus on how to save Amy."

"Yes," the Doctor chuckled, "So here's the plan. Time is always a bit wibbly-wobbly, but in Twostreams it's extra wobbly," they watched as Amy passed the glasses back to Rory, giving them a view of her again.

"The TARDIS has gotten us enough information that we can work out how to manipulate the temporal engines," Mac added, "If we fold the two points of Amy's timeline together, it'll save her."

"Fold the what?" Rory shook his head.

"We're bringing her out of the then and into the now!" the Doctor cheered, "Amy, we just need to borrow your brain a minute, it won't hurt, probably, almost probably... and then, Amy Pond, we're going to save you."

Amy took a long look into the glasses before crying, "No!" and striding off, "Time's up, Handbots coming."

"Amy we need YOUR help to do this," Mac tried to reason with her as Amy rushed down the halls, "Amy? Amelia!"

But Amy just strode through the doors, leaving Rory alone. He held up the Time Glass to see there was a message in red lipstick written there, a message to the three of them that she was there with an arrow to the door handle, "You told her to leave us a sign. And she did. And she waited. Oh, Amy," he sighed and entered the engine room, hurrying to catch up to his wife, "Why won't you help yourself?"

"They want to rescue Past Me from 36 years back," Amy spun to face him, "Which means I'll cease to exist. Everything I've seen and done dissolves, time is rewritten."

"That's... That's good, isn't it?"

"I will die. Another Amy will take my place, an Amy who never got trapped at Twostreams, who grew old with you, and she, in 36 years, won't be me."

"But you'll die in here."

"Not if you take me with you. You came to rescue me, so rescue_ me_."

"Leave her and take you?" Rory breathed.

The Time Lords looked at each other, shifting uncomfortably, "Rory…" Mac began, "If we take this Amy with us that means we CANNOT go back and get the other Amy too. She'll have to wait 36 years, just like this one before she's rescued."

"So I have to choose, which wife do I want?"

"She is me," Amy argued, "We're both me."

Rory shook his head, "You being here is wrong. For a single day, an hour, let alone a lifetime. I swore to protect you...I promised."

"Rory..." the Doctor began as Amy turned her back on Rory and strode through her small curtain.

"This is your fault."

"I'm so sorry, but Rory..."

"No! This is your fault! You should look in a history book once in a while, see if there's an outbreak of plague or not."

"That is not how I travel."

"Then I do not want to travel with you!" Rory ripped off the glasses and threw them on the ground, causing a bit of feedback for the Time Lords, but then…it picked up something else, a sound of someone crying.

"Rory…" Mac began gently, "I think we can hear our Amy…"

They couldn't see anything as the glasses were lying facing the ground, but they could hear Rory shuffling, before he breathed, "Oh, Amy…" there was a sound of footsteps before he began to speak to the Amy once more, "Look me in the face and say you won't help her."

Mac shook her head and reached over to turn the speakers off, it wouldn't help them now. Surely whatever Rory was going to do would be to try and get the future Amy working with them and that would be a private moment between the two. Even the Doctor seemed to understand that as he made no move to turn the radio back on, not even as Rory picked up the glasses again and slipped them on. They waited in silence, shifting and pacing and glancing at the monitor, Rory's attention focused on the door, clearly waiting for Amy to step out, he didn't have the time glass on him either.

They let out a breath when the curtain was shoved away and Amy stood there, the Doctor rushing to turn the comm. back on, just in time to hear, "I'm going to pull time apart for you," from Amy before she stepped closer to Rory and hugged him, crying.

~8~

"Ok," Amy was saying as she walked through the engine room, "Twostreams is back on air. Right, ok, so this is big news, this is temporal earthquake time. I am now officially changing my own future. Hold on to your spectacles. In my past, I saw my future self refuse to help you. I'm now changing that future and agreeing. Every law of time says that shouldn't be possible."

"Yes," the Doctor nodded slowly, "Except sometimes knowing your own future is what enables you to change it, especially if you're bloody minded, contradictory and completely unpredictable," he cast a small look at Mac, trying not to let her notice…he really DID have to talk to her about everything he'd gleamed from them.

"So, basically, if you're Amy, then?" Rory laughed.

"Amy would be the one to do it, yeah," Mac smiled.

"It's not about what I'm doing," Amy countered, "But who I'm doing it for. I'm trusting you to watch my back, Rory."

"Always," he nodded, making the image bob up and down, "You and me, always."

"Cos here's the deal... you take me too in the TARDIS. Me too."

"But that means that there'll be two of you, permanently, forever."

"And that way we both get to live."

"Two Amys together. Can that work?"

The Doctor and Mac looked at each other, the Doctor scratching the side of his face, "I don't know, it's your marriage."

"Doctor!"

Mac opened her mouth to answer and the Doctor, as much as he knew she'd hate him for doing it, rushed forward and put his hand over her mouth, the only way he could ensure that she'd stay quiet, "Perhaps," he called, wincing as Mac tried to pull his hand away, yelling louder and talking quicker to get to the Ponds first, "Maybe, if I shunted the reality compensators on the TARDIS, re-calibrated the doomsday bumpers and jettisoned the karaoke bar, yes, maybe, yes. It could do it. The TARDIS could sustain the paradox. Ow!" he snapped his hand away from Mac, "You bit me!"

"Be glad I didn't punch you!" she hissed, but it was too late, the damage had been done, the Ponds now thought that they could make it through all three of them and, even if she said differently, they wouldn't listen to her. They were too full of hope and the Doctor's affirmation hadn't helped.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor whispered to Mac, before rushing back to the monitor, "Amy, Past Amy, stand by the door. Future Amy, you too. Future Amy, can I borrow your sonic scr... probe?"

"It's a screwdriver!" Future Amy laughed, handing it to Rory to flash with the Doctor's sonic, tossing it back to her.

Mac shook her head at the Doctor, glaring at him as she made her way to the other side of the console.

The Doctor looked at her sadly, but forced himself to continue, "Amy Now, you're our link to Amy Then. We need to get a signal through. That signal will be a thought. Amy Now and Amy Then, share a thought. Something so powerful that it can rip through time," he glanced at Mac, "Going to help?"

"_I want no part of this Theta,_" she scolded him in Gallifreyan, "_I'll do my part in not letting the TARDIS explode, but everything else is on YOU this time._"

The Doctor let out a breath, but nodded, understanding, "Rory, sonic the plinth front. Inside you'll find three levers and a jumble of wiring. That's the regulator we've rebooted, you have ten minutes to get back to the TARDIS."

"Ok," Rory answered.

"Pull out the red and green receptors, reroute blue into red and green into blue. Leave red loose and on no account touch anything yellow," he watched as Rory did just that but ended up holding the green and blue wires, "Come on, Rory. It's hardly rocket science. It's just quantum physics!"

"Yes, right. Blue into red..."

He nodded as Rory managed to work it out, "Now the lever. Throw them in order! Amys, start thinking the most important thought you've ever had. Hold it in your head and do not let it go!" he looked at Mac to see her tensing, ready to jump into action and help keep the TARDIS under control, "Lever one!" Rory pulled it…only to get distracted by Amy as she began to mutter 'Macarena' as her thought.

"She's doing The Macarena. Our first kiss…"

"Lever two, Rory," the Doctor cut in, able to see their Amy starting to flicker into existence as he pulled the lever, "Lever three!"

Rory pulled it and the TARDIS went to hell, sparks flying, glass shattering, fires exploding everywhere. They could hear Rory running for Amy, could hear the Amys talking to each other but they couldn't focus on that, not when the TARDIS was trying to fly away and they were working desperately to keep it in place from the temporal backlash.

"Rory, Rory, take the glasses off!" the Doctor called, seeing that reading on the monitor, "You're getting temporal feedback," he jumped back as the console sparked again, starting to smoke, "Whoa! Calm down, dear!"

"Rory!" Mac shouted, "The time fold is affecting the TARDIS, she hates paradoxes, you have to get out of there. We're trying to keep her here but we've got barely 8 minutes left."

"I'm sorry, you're on your own now," the Doctor managed to get out before the time glass shattered, the image of the glasses going to static at the same time. The Doctor stared at the monitor a moment before looking at Mac, "Naery I…"

"Don't," she shot him a glare, "Don't you EVER cover my mouth or silence me again Theta. Do you understand me?"

He nodded, looking down, ashamed that he'd done that, he just wanted to help Amy, but…he'd lied and this one, this wasn't like his other ones where he did it for protection…this time it was because he was actively manipulating them to get Amy to the present.

He could only look at the doors as they worked, waiting to see who would walk through them first, and praying it would be their Amy.

~8~

Thankfully, it was Rory, carrying THEIR Amy into the TARDIS that answered his prayers. He wasn't quite fond to know that Amy had been hurt in the process, but it was better than the alternative. He looked at Mac, seeing her moving to check on Amy, fretting over her as Rory laid her on the ground, and he ran for the doors. If the other Amy hadn't run in just yet, there was a chance he still had time.

He looked out the doors, seeing the future Amy across the room, throwing aside her weapons as she ran for the TARDIS, "I'm sorry," he whispered, before he shut the doors closed only moments before she reached them.

"What are you doing?" Rory leapt to his feet.

"Rule one Rory," Mac sighed, "He lied."

"Lied about what?" Rory looked at her as the other Amy started to pound on the door and call them to let her in.

"There was never any way for both Amys to be in the TARDIS at the same time. The paradox would have made it blow up."

"But she'll die!" he pointed at the door, Amy still pounding away.

"No," the Doctor shook his head, "She'll never have existed. When we save our Amy, this future won't have happened."

"But she happened! She's there!"

"No," he closed his eyes, hearing Amy call about how she'd trusted him, "She's not real."

"She is real," he rushed for the door, "Let her in!"

"Rory!" Mac rushed over and took his hand, 'I'm sorry," she stopped him from opening the lock, "But it's true…you open that door, we all die, including BOTH Amys."

Rory looked over to see his Amy, his wife, lying there, she was safe for now…but the other her wasn't, and if he opened the door, both his wives would be in danger.

"Look," the Doctor breathed, "We take this Amy, we leave ours. There can only be one Amy in the TARDIS. Which one do you want?" he looked at Rory sorrowfully, "It's your choice."

"This isn't fair," Rory shook his head, "You're turning me into you."

"Your choice, Rory," was all the Doctor could whisper before he headed up to the console, bracing his hands on the edge of it and bowing his head, tense, hating that it had come to this.

Mac looked at Amy once more before she sighed and got up, wanting to give Rory some peace and privacy to talk to his future wife as she moved to check on her Chosen. She moved to the side of the console, not even needing to ask him or read his mind to know that this entire thing was breaking his hearts. She could see it in the guilt on his face, the tears in his eyes, the frown of his lips. She sighed and moved behind him, wrapping her arms around him from behind and giving him a squeeze, resting her chin on his shoulder as they waited, to know if they'd be dead or if they would have to cause someone not to exist at all.

They looked back only when they heard the sound of the lock clicking back into place to see Rory backing away from the door and moving to Amy's side, sitting next to her, "Go," he called to them, his voice breaking.

They quickly ran around the console and let the TARDIS disappear…

~8~

"So you always knew," Rory muttered as he and the Doctor and Mac sat on the steps to the halls, Amy in the jump seat, the Doctor's coat over her, still knocked out from the Handbots, "That saving both Amys was impossible."

"We promised you we'd save her and there she is," the Doctor nodded at Amy, "Safe."

"For what it's worth Rory," Mac touched his shoulder, "We're so sorry it came to that."

The Doctor held out a hand to help Mac up and they turned to go just as Amy started to wake up. The Doctor looked back and smiled, seeing Rory already at Amy's side, before he stuck his tongue out at them playfully.

"We'll give you some privacy," Mac offered, tugging the Doctor off, allowing the Ponds to have their moment.

The Doctor sighed though, this was not a successful 'buttering up' date nor had his actions with covering her mouth helped him soften her at all. It seemed his little chat with her would have to wait.

A/N: I am REALLY hoping May will be better than April in terms of getting the chapters up on time :( Seems April's been really unlucky for my family too. My sister's boyfriend broke up with her yesterday so Family Day really turned into (Needing Your)Family Day :( She was really upset, as her prior boyfriend broke up with her out of nowhere and this one did the same :'( My family stayed longer than we were meant to, took her out to dinner to try and cheer her up, and caught a late movie to help and just be there for her :( I didn't get back till late and the time I'd set aside to get the chapters for today edited had to be pushed off to this morning where I also woke up with a cold (never trust the weatherman when they say it'll be warm out when going to an outdoor event...it will undoubtedly be bitterly cold and windy and start to rain slightly near the end of it) :( -sigh- On top of that, my cousin came over around noon and I've had to entertain her all day...and, of course, my parents knew this visit was planned since last week and failed to tell me till an hour before she showed up :( I've got my fingers and toes crossed that May will be better though, it's already looking up because my brother adopted a little puggle named Chip (to compliment our Beagle named Dale lol) that we're getting the end of this week, so that's a good start and my mother's birthday is near the start of it and Mother's Day too, and my sister and I graduate so that's a very good set of omens so far :)

As for this chapter :) I was debating having Mac go out there with a little makeshift scuba kit, but I really wanted that moment where the Doctor literally covers her mouth to stop her talking :(

Some notes on reviews...

Nope, Clara's not Mac's first child. I don't think ectopic pregnancies last long due to the danger to the mother (from what I remember of health classes lol), so the baby wasn't very large before she lost it but it caused a very large amount of damage to her :(

Mac won't have any more children, nope. She can't have kids and she's very much against not being able to have a child she can't carry on her own. She would not willingly have had Teddy or River if she could help it, but the events were forced on her and she adores her children despite that :)

I probably won't write a one-shot like that unless it's one of my 'anniversary' oneshot crossovers :) But good luck! I hope your friend enjoys your gift :)

Yup, the Blue Laws are strong in my county :( Which is weird because (I think) it has the 4 biggest malls in our state and yet they're all closed on Sundays :/

And a happy birthday to guest's friend! I hope it's a brilliant birthday ;)


	14. God Complex

God Complex

Mac laughed as she made her way up the staircase of what looked like a very quaint and cozy 80s hotel, seeing the Doctor, Amy, and Rory peeking their heads over the banisters of the stairwell down at her, each of them on a different level though they all made their way up towards the Doctor, "'Let's go to Ravan-Skala,' he says," Amy lamented, "'The people are 600 feet tall, you have to talk to them in hot air balloons and the Tourist Information Center is made of one of their hats,' he says. I'm sorry, but I don't see any huge hats."

"That's because we're not on Ravan-Skala, Amy," Mac remarked as she made it to the Doctor's floor, the Doctor himself being far too ecstatic for his own good, grinning widely at them, excited.

"Kenzie, Amy, Beaky," he began, "This could be the most exciting thing I have ever seen!"

"You're kidding," Rory deadpanned.

"Doctor this isn't really saying much for what you consider to be exciting," Mac added.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Says the woman who, when given the chance to observe some Van Gogh paintings, claimed she wanted to go watch the paint dry," he gave Mac a look, making her blush, she really had said that.

"How can you be excited about a rubbish hotel on a rubbish bit of Earth?" Amy scoffed.

"Because this is not Earth. This has just been made to _look_ like Earth. The craftsmanship involved...can you imagine?!"

"Normally when that happens Doctor, it's NOT a good thing," Mac reminded him.

"Where are we then?" Amy looked around as they headed back up towards the TARDIS, parked one floor above them, near some potted plants, the walls behind it cluttered with pictures of what looked like employees, all wearing the same uniforms, but of varying species.

"I don't know," he cheered, "Something must have yanked us off course. Look at the detail on that cheese plant!" he rushed over to one of the potted plants and began to sniff it, "You know, there's only one thing I've ever seen that someone put more effort into making remarkably brilliant than this place."

"And what's that?"

"Kenzie," he answered promptly, winking at her, there HAD to be some sort of deity out there if such a perfect woman existed.

Mac gave him a disbelieving look, "Did you hit your head again when you took that tumble down the stairs before?" he'd opened the doors to the TARDIS, stepped out, and realized he was at the top of a staircase and fell down them.

"No, no," he laughed, moving over to her, draping his arm around her shoulders, "Flirting, dear."

"Oh," she nodded, starting to smile, she was getting MUCH better at learning when he was flirting with her, but there were still times that slipped past her, usually his more extravagant claims and compliments.

"Who would mock up an Earth hotel though?" Rory shook his head.

"Colonists maybe," the Doctor shrugged, "Recreating a bit of home, like when ex-pats open English pubs in Majorca. Ooh!" he grinned, moving over to a bowl of fruit, "Macintosh apples," he winked at Mac, "My favorite."

Amy, now that she was older, now that she knew more of the world, and now that she knew the Doctor and Mac were together, couldn't help but smirk and tease him, "Doctor do try not to taste Mac's forbidden fruit while we're here, the TARDIS has an infinite number of bedrooms too and those can be made soundproof easily."

Mac nearly DIED at the shade of red the Doctor turned and how he started sputtering, his eyes so wide she was sure what was left of his eyebrows had entirely disappeared into his hairline. She did feel a bit bad when he started to choke on the apple he was eating and patted him on the back to help.

"It IS a rather remarkable piece of work though," she steered the conversation back to the hotel instead of the Doctor and his love of apples, not about to bring up Christian theology again, "They put an awful lot of work into this. But why? The environment scan didn't show us being anywhere interesting, no intergalactic sights nearby that would require this."

"Have you seen these?" Rory pointed to the employee photos, "Look at the labels underneath. 'Commander Halke, defeat,'" he read for a Sontaran, before going on to two humans, "'Tim Heath, having his photo taken.' 'Lady Silver-Tear... Daleks.'"

"Daleks?" Mac frowned, moving over to the pictures, it almost looked like they were listing the person's greatest fears.

"'Paige Barnes, other people's socks,'" Amy read off some more, "'Tim Nelson, balloons.' 'Novice Prin, saberwolves.' 'Royston Luke Gold, Plymouth.' 'Lucy Hayward, that brutal gorilla,'" she shook her head and looked at the Time Lords, "What does it mean?"

"I don't know," the Doctor mused, coming to the same conclusion as Mac that they were fears, "Let's find out," he reached out and took Mac's hand, kissing the back of it as they headed down the stairs.

~8~

It hadn't taken them long to find reception, though they weren't exactly surprise to see that there was no one there, no receptionist, no bellhop, there weren't even any other guests that they could see. The employees whose pictures they'd seen were also strangely missing as well. The Doctor leaned over and tapped the bell and, nearly instantly, three people ran around the corner, two men and one woman. The woman was a lovely Indian woman in blue scrubs, waving a chair leg at them. The two men, one was clearly an alien as he appeared rather mole-like in appearance, he was also waving a white handkerchief at them, though the other man was a young man with black curly hair and glasses, standing a bit more behind the woman for protection.

"Blimey, that was quick," the Doctor murmured, tugging Mac closer as the trio began to wave their makeshift weapons at them.

"We surrender!" the alien cried.

"No, it's ok," Rory tried to calm them down, "We're not…we're nice!"

"She threatened me with a chair leg!" the Doctor pointed at the Indian woman accusingly.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded.

"We're back in reception," the young man lamented.

"We surrender!" the alien repeated.

The Doctor grimaced as the chair leg, "Never been threatened with a chair leg before!" until he considered his words and changed it to, "No, I tell a lie."

Amy blinked and looked at Rory, "Did you just say, 'It's ok, we're nice?'"

"Oi!" Mac shouted above them all, "You lot, all of you shut up!"

The trio fell quiet, but the Indian woman slowly made her way towards them, the young boy reaching out to try and tug her back, "Rita, be careful, yeah?"

"It's fine Howie," Rita waved him off, though she kept her eyes on the others, "Their pupils are dilated. They're as surprised as we are. Besides which, if it's a trick, it'll tell us something."

"Oh, you're good," the Doctor grinned at her observational skills, "Oh, she's good. Amy, with regret, you're fired."

"What?" Amy scoffed.

"I'm kidding," he reassured her, but smiled at Rita, miming a phone as he whispered, "We'll talk."

"You," Mac eyed the mole-like alien, "You wouldn't happen to be from Tivoli would you? You were a bit quick to surrender."

"Yes," the man nodded, "The most invaded planet in the galaxy. Our anthem is called Glory To Insert Name Here."

"You with the face, Howie," the Doctor pointed at him, "You said you were surprised to be back in reception."

"The walls move, everything changes," Howie sighed.

"You, clever one," the Doctor turned the pointed finger on Rita, "What's he talking about?"

Rita lowered her chair leg, "The corridors twist and stretch, rooms vanish and pop up somewhere else. It's like the hotel's alive."

The Doctor looked over as Mac shut off the soft music that was playing above them, when Howie spoke, "And it's huge, with, like, no way out."

"Have you tried the front door?" Rory asked, gesturing at the rather large double doors behind them.

Mac rolled her eyes at that, "I think if they'd have checked those first," she said, just a bit sarcastically.

The Doctor scanned the doors with his sonic, before he threw them open to see nothing but a brick wall behind them, "They're not doors, they're walls, walls that look like doors. Door-walls, if you like, or 'dwalls,' 'woors' even…" he trailed off when he saw Mac give him the 'stop talking' sign and nodded, "You'd probably got it when you said, 'They're not doors.'"

"So if the doors are walls, then stands to reason that the windows…" she threw the curtain covering a window to the side to see a wall as well.

"It's not just that," Rita began, but hesitated a moment before continuing, "The rooms have...things in them."

"Things?" the Doctor perked up at that, "Hello! What kind of things? Interesting things? I love things, ask anyone. Kenzie here," he draped his arm around her shoulders, "Best thing that ever happened to me," he grinned widely at her.

"Bad dreams," Rita said instead.

The Doctor's smile slowly faded at that, "Well, that killed the mood."

"How did you three even get here?" Mac shook her head, "That's what I'd want to know."

"I don't know," Rita sighed, "I'd just started my shift. I must have passed out, because suddenly I was here."

"I was blogging, next thing, this," Howie shrugged.

"Oh, I was at work," the alien smiled, "I'm in town planning. We're lining all the highways with trees, so invading forces can march in the shade. Which is nice for them."

"So what have we got?" the Doctor glanced around, "People snatched from their lives and dropped into an endless, shifting maze that looks like a 1980s hotel with bad dreams in the bedrooms," he snatched a small Rubik's cube off the reception counter, "Well, apart from anything else, that's just rude."

"And you'd know all about that, wouldn't you Doctor," Mac smirked at him.

"Yes," he laughed, "If _I_ think something is rude, it's RUDE."

~8~

"We can use the TARDIS to do a diagnostic sweep," Mac was saying as they headed up the stairs to the floor the TARDIS had been set on, the Doctor's arm around her waist as they walked. But they stopped short when they spotted the same floor, with the potted plants and the pictures on the wall…but no TARDIS in sight.

"Where's the TARDIS?" Amy frowned as the Doctor rushed forward to try and feel around for it incase it had randomly decided to go invisible, "You parked it there, didn't you?"

"Right here," Mac nodded.

"What's a TARDIS?" Howie looked at Rory, who merely put his head in his hands.

"Our way out," Rory sighed, "And it's gone."

"Ok," the Doctor looked up, hearing the music playing over the speakers again, "This is bad. At the moment, I don't know how bad, but certainly we're three buses, a long walk and eight quid in a taxi from good."

Mac looked around at all the pictures, a pit forming in her stomach before she turned to Rita, "Was it just you three here? Did you see anyone else?"

"Joe," Rita offered, "But he's tied up right now."

"Doing what?" the Doctor scoffed.

Rita glanced at Howie and then back, "No, I mean he's...tied up right now."

~8~

The small group slowly entered the dining room, able to find that rather easily as well, it appeared the rooms on the main floor, the reception area, dining hall, lounge, and pool were all rather easy to get to, it was all the other halls on other floors that posed a problem. And there was Joe, a semi-well dressed man, sitting tied to a chair in the middle of the room, at a table that was surrounded by ventriloquist dummies. There were a few other tables as well, all with dummies there too, all laughing, their heads bobbing as Joe smiled at them dazedly, seeming to almost be laughing along with them.

"Hello," the Doctor stepped over, Mac going with him, "I'm the Doctor and this is Mackenzie…"

"You're going to die here," Joe interrupted.

"We're supposed to die in quite a few places," Mac mused, "Never seems to pan out for others when they try."

"I like to think I'll go in old age, in Kenzie's arms," the Doctor smiled at her, though he saw her smile tense at his words, reminding him he very much did need to speak to her about his suspicions involving his future. He shook his head, looking at Joe, "Is Joe there? Can we have a quick word?"

"Oh, it's still me," Joe eyed them as they both grabbed a chair and sat before him, "But I've seen the light. I lived a blasphemous life, but he has forgiven my inconstancy, and soon...he shall feast."

"Well, you've been here two days, what's he waiting for?" the Doctor wondered.

"We weren't ready. We were still raw."

"But now you're what? Cooked?"

"If you like. Soon you will be, too. Be patient. First...find your rooms."

"Our rooms?" Mac eyed him.

"There's a room here for everyone," he nodded, "Even you two."

Mac nodded slowly, "You spoke of blasphemy, of being forgiven, seeing the light…"

"Nothing else matters anymore," he sighed with a smile, "Only him. It's like these things," Joe nodded at the dummies, "I used to hate them! They make me laugh now," and he proceeded to laugh to prove that, "Gottle o' geer! Gottle o' geer!" and the dummies joined in, "You should go. He'll be here soon."

"And what makes you think he'll find you here?" Mac wondered.

The Doctor stood and moved over to a small hand dolley, sliding it under Joe's chair, "I think you should come with us."

~8~

They'd all gathered down the hall, back in reception, the Doctor, Amy, Rory, and Rita on one side of the counter, Mac, the alien, Joe, and Howie on the other, Joe still tied to his chair, "Why you four?" the Doctor eyed the humans and alien, "That's what I don't understand. Aside from all the other things I don't understand," he glanced over as Mac switched the music off, "I quite liked that song," he remarked.

"You did?" she gave him a look.

"Thought we might have a dance," he shrugged.

"In the middle of some sort of danger?"

"Is there ever a better time?"

She had to laugh at that, "I'll dance with you when this is over," she promised, making him beam.

"What does it matter why we're here?" the alien asked, "Sooner or later, someone will come along and rescue us. Or enslave us."

"Well, if WE are the 'rescue' part," Mac warned him, "That means whatever's here wants to enslave you, so that would be why it matters."

"Yes, so first, we find the TARDIS," the Doctor agreed, "Quick thing before we go. If you feel drawn to a particular room, do not go in, and make sure someone else can see you at all times."

"Joe said HE will feast," Rita remarked, "Is there something here with us?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer when Joe started to laugh, "Something to add, Joe?"

"Here comes a candle to light you to bed," Joe recited, "Here comes a chopper to chop off your head. Chop, chop, chop, chop."

"Can we do something about him?" Howie shuddered.

Mac just pulled out the duct tape from her pocket, bit off a piece, and slapped it across Joe's mouth, "Better?" she looked at the boy, making him smile and nod.

~8~

The humans were eyeing Mac oddly as she walked with a small ball of yarn in her hands, trailing the string behind her as they walked through a hallway, the alien, Gibbis they'd learned, pushing Joe on in his chair. They'd not quite understood what was going on with the yarn, why she was using it, but Amy had just smirked and remarked they were in a labyrinth and that method worked before. The Doctor had just beamed and put his arm around Mac's shoulders, as it still was, the lot of them trying to work out what was going on. They could hear Gibbis and Rory talking behind them, but they were more focused on keeping aware of any dangers that might be coming.

They stopped when Room 158 opened and what appeared to be a PE teacher stepped out, "Hello," the Doctor greeted.

"Have you forgotten your PE kit again?" the man eyed the Doctor, "Right, that's it, you're doing it in your pants!" before he headed back into the room.

Mac gave the Doctor a look at that rather odd encounter before she turned to make sure nothing else had snuck out of the other rooms and were sneaking up behind them…when she spotted it, "Howie don't!" she rushed forward to try and stop him opening a door…but it was too late.

"Oh, look, girls," a young woman called and she and the Doctor could see the room was full of beautiful girls around Howie's age, "It's H-H-H-Howie!"

"What's 'loser' in K-K-K-Klingon?" a second girl asked, sending them into rounds of laughter.

"Shut the d-d...the-the door!" Howie stuttered as he stumbled back, the Doctor rushing to do that, "This is just some m-m-messed-up CIA stuff, I-I-I'm telling you."

"It's alright sweetie," Mac moved over to give him a reassuring hug.

The Doctor patted him on the back as well, "You're right, keep telling yourself that. It's a CIA thing, nothing more," he turned to walk off, Mac and the Doctor being sure to keep Howie in between them as they went…looking back when they saw Howie do so but nothing was there.

~8~

They'd made it to another hallway that appeared a little worse for the wear than the others, the wall paper was lightly peeling, the plaster on the ceilings had a large scrape down the middle of it. Amy stopped when she saw something on the ground and picked up a handful of notes. She'd just turned to give them to the Doctor when they heard a loud growl.

"Ok," Amy began, "Whatever that is, it's not real, yeah?"

"I don't think we should stand here and find out," Mac remarked.

"Good idea!" the Doctor cheered and they all ran for the rooms, Mac helping Rita get Joe into one as he pulled a door open to get Amy, Howie, and Gibbis in the other, "Rory!" he called, seeing the man tying his shoes.

Mac waited just long enough to see Rory rush into the Doctor's room, the two of them nodding to each other before she shut the door and turned around, only to see an older Indian man in a doctor's coat with a stethoscope around his neck glaring at a very scared Rita.

"A B in mathematics?!" he was shouting, "You are lazy!" Rita started to back away towards one of the beds, "Do you understand me, girl? Lazy!"

"I'm sorry, Daddy, I'm so sorry!" Rita started to cry.

"Rita," Mac ran to him, "Don't listen to him," she knelt before the woman, "Don't. He's not real, this is your room, this is…your greatest fear, disappointing your father, but you DIDN'T. HE is not your dad. Rita? Rita look at me sweetie…"

In her quest to try and calm down, she hadn't noticed Joe struggle out of his bonds and rush for the door, "Come to m!" he shouted, making her spin around, but he was already in the hall, "Come to me. Praise him!"

Mac ran to the doors in time to see a minotaur like beast running for him and slammed the door shut, there was no way she'd be able to save Joe with the rate the minotaur was rushing for him and…she was afraid that whatever it was might have gotten to Rita and she couldn't risk it getting her too.

A moment later though, she heard the Doctor shouting, "Leave him alone!"

She threw the door open, only to see him rushing down the hall, around the corner.

~8~

Mac sat in the dining room, everyone was very happy for the yarn and string after the rooms shifted again, it helped the Doctor find his way back to them…with Joe. The poor man hadn't made it and was now lying on a small dais. She was just watching everyone, sipping a small cup of tea that Rita had made. Gibbis was sitting at a table, having been talking to Amy, who was now talking to Rory, who had been barricading the doors with Howie. The boy was now just sitting at a table organizing the silverware for something to do. Rita and the Doctor were talking and she was keeping an eye on Rita and Howie…and Gibbis now too. All three had seen their rooms apparently and she couldn't help but feel like it was that, it was seeing that fear, that would make them like Joe had been, that they'd go running to the monster if they weren't careful.

"Doctor," Amy called, pulling her attention away as she approached the Doctor with a handful of papers, "Look at this. I found it in a corridor, I completely forgot I had it."

"Er..." the Doctor eyed the note before reading it aloud, "'My name is Lucy Hayward and I'm the last one left. It took Luke first. It got him on his first day, almost as soon as we arrived. It's funny. You don't know what's going to be in your room until you see it, then you realize it could never have been anything else. I just saw mine. It was a gorilla from a book I'd read as a kid. My God, that thing used to terrify me. The gaps between my worships are getting shorter, like contractions. This is what happened to the others... and how lucky they were. It's all so clear now. I'm so happy. Pra…"

"Praise him," Howie finished, seemingly not even realizing what he'd said till it had fallen out of his mouth.

"Howie…" Mac eyed him, "What was that?"

Howie stiffened, "Nothing," he seemed to struggle with something, "Praise him!" he cried out again, before clapping his hands over his mouth to try and stop himself.

And then chaos broke out, everyone started shouting over themselves as they freaked out over what was wrong with Howie, especially the ones who had been here with Joe as that was apparently exactly how he'd sounded.

Mac winced at the rising voices before she pulled out a whistle from her pocket and blew it to get them all to quiet down, "Now," she huffed, "If you could all calm yourselves down," she gave them a look.

"Don't you see?" Gibbis began, "He'll lead it right here!"

"What do you suggest?" Rita scoffed at Gibbis.

"Look, whatever it is out there, it's obviously chosen Howard as its next course. Now...tragic though that is, this is no time for sentiment. I'm saying, if it were to... find him, it may be satisfied and let the rest of us go. All I want to do is go home and be conquered and oppressed, is that too much to ask?!" he fell back down on the chair he'd leapt out of.

"It's ok," Rita took a breath, "I'll stay with Howie. You take the others and go."

"No," Mac shook her head, already starting to see signs that Rita was being affected by her room, she was just…too calm, for the woman who had attacked them with a chair leg…she was FAR too calm right now and she couldn't help but think that this was Rita's way to try and leave herself open for the monster to get her.

"No," the Doctor agreed, "We stay together," he looked over at Gibbis, approaching him, "Your civilization is one of the oldest in the galaxy. Now I see why. Your cowardice isn't quaint, it's sly, aggressive. It's how that gene of gutlessness has survived while so many others have perished. Well, not today. No one else dies today. Right?"

"Yes," Gibbis said quietly.

"Brilliant," he smiled, straightening to walk over to Howie, putting his arm around his shoulders to lead the boy back to the others, "Howie, any second, it's going to possess you again. When it does, I'm going to ask you some questions. Please try to answer them."

Howie slowly sat at the table, "I hope my mum's all right, she's going to be w-worried."

Mac frowned, seeing Howie starting to blink rapidly before smiling serenely, "Howie? Are you alright sweetie?"

"I'm…perfect," Howie breathed.

"Howie, you're next," the Doctor began, realizing he'd been taken over, "We're all dead jealous, so tell us…how do we get a piece of the action? Why isn't he possessing all of us?"

"You guys have got all these distractions," Howie laughed, tapping his head, "All these obstacles. It'd be so much easier if you just let it go, you know, clear the path."

"You want it to find you?" Amy blinked at him, startled, "Even though you know what it's going to do?"

"Are you kidding? He's going to kill us all! How cool is that?!"

"Right…" Mac nodded slowly before they stood and stepped away from the table slightly to talk more.

"It's as I thought," the Doctor sighed, "It feeds on fear. Everything, the rooms, Lucy's note, even the pictures in reception, has been put here to frighten us. So we have to resist it. Do whatever you have to, cross your fingers, say a prayer, think of a basket of kittens, but do not give in to the fear."

"Ok," Amy nodded, "But what are we actually going to do?"

The Doctor just grinned widely and Mac sighed, "We're going monster hunting, aren't we?"

~8~

Mac wanted to be in the room with the Doctor, badly. They'd set up a trap for the monster in the beauty parlor, using quite a few mirrors (her idea) that were set up so that the Doctor could see the creature without having to be too close to it. She really had wanted to be in there, but the humans were splitting up, Amy and Rita…and Rory by himself as Gibbis was watching Howie. They could hear the boy's voice echoing through the halls, using the intercom systems to try and lure the monster to the parlor. With Joe down, Mac didn't feel right leaving Rory alone, even if he was hiding in the hallways. The plan was to lure the monster into the parlor and then they'd seal both entrances to keep a trap going. The mirrors were useful as well as they'd block the second half of the room, hopefully giving the Doctor enough time to get to the door she and Rory were at so they could open it for him.

She'd barely heard the sound of Amy calling out the warning to seal the doors as she was staring at the door so intently. She really had wanted to be in there with the Doctor, but he'd agreed with her hesitation to stay with Rory, it would be best if he only had to worry about getting himself out of there instead of the two of them, he'd worry less if it was just him the beast could try to grab instead of her too. So there they were, she and Rory standing in the halls, trying to listen to what the Doctor was saying inside the room to the monster.

He was speaking quiet low and there was some sort of water feature in the room, the sound of the water making it harder still to hear what he or the beast were saying. She did manage to catch some things though. They were in a prison and they were the food, but they weren't ready, just like Joe had said. The rooms were meant to make them ready. The creature was old too, very old…but that was all she was able to hear before she heard Howie behind them, shouting from down the hall.

"My master, my lord!" the boy was calling, "I'm here! Bring me death!"

"Howie!" Mac gasped, turning to face down the hall…which was, apparently, just what the beast needed as the next thing she knew there was the sound of shattering glass and she was shoved into the wall, the creature slamming into Rory as it ran past him too. She grit her teeth and pulled herself up, rushing after the creature, knowing the others were safe for now…but Howie wasn't.

"Kenzie!" she could hear the Doctor call behind her, but she ran on, trying to catch up, trying to keep the beast in sight…but it escaped her, the halls shifted around her and it was lost.

She let out a breath as she reached a four way intersection of halls, spinning around to try and find her way…

When she heard a whispering, 'Praise him,' over and over in her head.

She turned slowly and saw a room, 8, and went over to it. She knew that behind the door was whatever was affecting the people there, but she knew that she had to open it. She'd gleamed that the rooms were meant to make you face your fear and replace it with something…but if she opened it, expecting her fear, if she opened it unafraid and confronted her fear…would it still do the same?

Gibbis had opened his and he didn't seem affected at all.

She sighed and reached for the door, opening it to see the astronaut standing within. The visor empty, it wasn't her daughter inside it but she knew what it meant. She wasn't scared of astronauts or spacemen…she was scared of the Doctor, and there he was too…he was lying on the ground just beside the astronaut, unmoving, not regenerating.

She shook her head, looking back up at it, they didn't know if it was River that would kill him, they had no way of knowing, River had hopefully escaped, she HAD to have…it could be anyone or no one in that suit.

"You won't win," she murmured, not sure if she was talking to the fear and the monster…or the overall event that it represented, "I'll stop you."

She closed the door and strode off down the hall, coming around a corner and gasping when she saw Howie kneeling on the ground, resting against the wall, his eyes closed, not breathing, "Oh Howie," she whispered, making her way over to him and crouching down, pressing two fingers to his neck to be sure, no pulse.

She looked up when she heard someone skid around the corner, calling "Kenzie!" before the Doctor ran over to her, seeing Howie's state and pulled her into a hug, the two of them were too late.

"He got free," they looked over at Gibbis's voice to see the alien at the end of the hall, "He overpowered me. It might leave us alone now. Maybe now we'll be safe."

"No," Mac shook her head, standing, "YOU saw your room too," she reminded it, "You saw it after Howie, it's working its way through you in order."

~8~

Mac was going to kill the Doctor.

Talk about payback, it seemed, as she'd run off without him, he'd run off without her, though, if she were keeping score she would have to remind him he'd run off first after Joe so she'd really just been evening the score. Though, according to Rita, who had come to tell her and the Ponds that the man had rushed off, he was searching for the security room of the hotel and not actively searching for the monster, which was a relief. But that still didn't take away from the fact that he'd gone off without anyone with him.

They'd found him soon enough though as everyone who left the dinning room was asked to take a ball of yarn with them to help guide them back and others to them. The Doctor's was TARDIS blue and if he thought the halls of the box had been a mess from when House took over, the halls were all crisscrossed with different color lines. What alarmed Mac though was that the Doctor's yarn wasn't the only one there, a lighter blue, Rita's scrub colored yarn was out there as well, which meant Rita was wandering the halls too. They'd told her to wait in the hall for them with Gibbis but it appeared she hadn't.

And it worried her.

"I don't want you to witness this…" they could hear Rita speaking from the security room as they entered to see her on the monitor, with the Doctor before it, holding up a phone, "I want you to remember me the way I was."

"What's she doing there?" Amy frowned, spotting the woman.

"Rita," the Doctor ignored Amy to focus on Rita, something it appeared he'd been doing for quite a while, "Rita, please. Let me find you."

"You stay where you are," Rita shook her head, "Please, let me be robbed of my faith in private."

"Look," Rory pointed to a lower monitor in a rather large collection of them, where the monster was rushing through the halls.

"Rita," the Doctor began again, "Rita. Go into the room, lock the door."

"I'm not frightened," Rita started to smile and Mac realized she'd been taken over, "I'm blessed, Doctor. I'm at peace. I'm going to hang up."

"No, no, no, Rita!"

"Goodbye, Doctor."

"Rita!"

"Thank you for trying."

"Rita, please!" the Doctor fried, but Rita hung up the phone and stood, turning into the middle of the hall and facing the monster as he stepped around the corner. She threw her arms and head back, waiting for the monster to get her, and Mac switched off the monitor before they could watch it all happen.

"I'm so sorry Doctor," Mac moved to hug him tightly, she should have asked Amy or Rory to stay with her. After Howie, it would be a close call between Gibbis and Rita, it seemed Rita had entered her room first.

~8~

Mac was grateful she'd had the foresight to move all the rather breakable or expensive out of the little room next to the bar as the Doctor tore through it in his anger at himself at not being able to save Rita. They were all in the bar now, her, Amy, Rory, and Gibbis, listening to the Doctor tearing apart the small room beside them. When he'd worn himself out he'd staggered back into the bar and plopped down beside Mac, winding his arm around her, pulling her closer, just needing comfort right now and reassurance.

Neither of them had said it, but they could both tell that the other had seen their rooms. It was like…something off in their eyes and expressions and how they held themselves, a weight on their thoughts that let the other know what was going on. The Doctor was determined now, more than ever, to try and work out what was going on because he knew that Amy had also seen her room too. Gibbis…he didn't seem to be affected at all which meant that it would start to try and take over Amy and Mac now and he honestly wasn't sure which of the gingers had seen their room first. He was not about to lose either of them.

"Ok," he began, thinking out loud, "It preys on people's fear and possesses them. But Rita wasn't afraid, she was brave and calm…"

"Not at first," Mac reminded him, "She tried to take your head off with a chair leg, hardly screams calm to me. It wasn't till after she entered her room that she started to calm down and not fear the monster chasing her."

He sighed, nodding at that, "Maybe it's something to do with the people, some connection between the four of them that'll tell us how to fight it?"

"Yes," Gibbis rolled his eyes, "You keep saying that, but you never do. And while we wait, people keep dying. And we'll be next!"

"Look, he'll work it out, he always does," Amy shushed him, "Just let him riff and move anything expensive out of his way."

Mac closed her eyes at Amy's words…at her faith in the Doctor as it hit the both of them, "Oh Amelia…"

"What?" Amy looked over at them, "What is wrong?"

"It's not fear," the Doctor realized, "It's faith. Not just religious faith, faith in something," he got up and started to pace, "Howard believed in conspiracies, external forces controlling the world," he added, thinking of how Howie had thought them being there was a government conspiracy, "Joe had dice cufflinks and a chain with a horseshoe. He was a gambler. Gamblers believe in luck, an intangible force that helps them win or lose."

"Which explains why Gibbis hasn't been taken," Mac agreed, "There's nothing to really latch onto as he's just waiting for people to tell him what to do…there's no faith or fear to break."

"But THAT's the key," the Doctor agreed, "They all believe there's something guiding them, about to save them. That's what it replaces. Every time someone was confronted with their most primal fear, they fell back on their most fundamental faith," he fell back on to a barstool, thinking about that, "And all this time, I've been telling you to dig deep. Find the thing that keeps you brave. I made you expose your faith. Show them what they needed."

"You didn't know," Mac got up and moved over to him.

"But why us?" Rory gestured at the four of them, "Why are we here?"

"It's not US," Mac sighed, "It's Amy."

"Amy?"

"You said before that you kept seeing an exit?" she looked at Rory and he nodded, "You aren't religious or superstitious, what is there to break in you? But AMY…"

"Why me?" Amy shook her head, standing up and walking over to them.

"Your faith in me," the Doctor sighed, "That's what brought us here."

"But why do they lose their faith before they die and start worshipping...it?" Rory asked.

"It needs to convert the faith into a form it can consume. Faith is an energy, the specific emotional energy the creature needs to live. Which is why at the end of her note, Lucy said..."

"Praise him," Amy called.

"Exactly," the Doctor nodded.

"Doctor!" Mac nearly hissed at him, and his eyes widened, realizing what Amy had said.

"No," Rory shook his head, "Oh, please, no."

And then they heard it, the monster roaring.

~8~

The small group ran through the halls as fast as they could, trying to get Amy as far away from the monster as possible. It did answer the Doctor's question of who saw their room first though, Amy, but that meant if she was taken then Mac wouldn't be far behind once Amy was attacked and he was not about to let that happen.

"Amy!" Mac shouted when the ginger girl stopped and turned around in the middle of the hall to look at the monster as the minotaur rounded the corner.

"What are you doing?" even Gibbis stopped to look at her.

"He is beautiful," Amy breathed.

Rory just reached out and grabbed her arm, ignoring Gibbis's cries to leave her, and pulled her arm around his shoulder, the Doctor doing the same as they ran off down another hall, Mac racing ahead of them, Gibbis trailing behind.

'_Find her room,_' the Doctor called to her in her mind, '_I have a plan this time._'

Mac bit her lip, knowing what his plan would be. She'd read the reports of his past companions. UNIT did extensive research about what the other companions were like, brought them in, interviewed them, got records of their adventures. This was just like what happened with Ace, she knew what the Doctor was planning to do and she honestly didn't want to see it happen, because it would break his hearts.

'_Naery please,_' he called, '_We need to find her room._'

Mac nodded and ran around a corner, guessing where Amy's room was. She'd been with the Pond woman nearly the entire time…except when she'd run off after Howie and the monster…her room had to be near the parlor…and so it was, the moment she saw the numbers on the doors, she knew which door it was, 7, the age Amy was when she'd first met them. She pushed the door open and they ran in to see the little girl, Amelia, sitting on her suitcase, staring out the window at the night's sky, waiting for them.

Mac ran back to Rory, helping him hold the door shut as Amy fell to her knees, the Doctor beside her, Gibbis rushing to hide under the bed, "Doctor," Amy gasped, "It's happening. It's changing me, it's changing my thoughts."

The Doctor took a deep breath, "I can't save you from this, there's nothing I can do to stop this."

"What?" Amy looked at him with heartbreaking eyes.

"I stole your childhood and now I've led you by the hand to your death. But the worst thing is, I knew. I knew this would happen. This is what always happens," he looked up when he heard Mac grunt, but they were still holding the door shut, "Forget your faith in me. I had Kenzie already, I didn't need another companion, but I took you with me because I was vain, because I wanted to be adored," he reached out to touch her hair, "Look at you. Glorious Pond. The girl who waited for me. I'm not a hero. I really am just a mad man in a box. And it's time we saw each other as we really are," he kissed her forehead, hearing the growls of the beast in the halls start to fade, "Amy Williams. It's time to stop waiting."

Mac looked over, seeing the sorrow on the Doctor's eyes as he forced himself to stand and walk away from Amy, towards her. He reached out and she instantly took his hand, knowing he needed the comfort after doing that. She stepped closer and kissed his cheek, nearly frowning when he didn't turn his head to steal a kiss, but she rested her forehead to his a moment, before turning to open the door. The monster was lying on the ground, panting as the lights flickered around it.

Mac squeezed his hand before she stepped closer to the monster, speaking as she knew he didn't want to say anything for a short while, "He's broken your hold on Amy, sacrificing her faith in him. You can die peacefully now, like you wanted," she looked up as the lights flickered more and the halls and rooms disappeared to reveal a dark room with a light grid pattern on the floor, a control panel in the back.

"What is it, a minotaur?" Amy glanced at the monster, not getting too close, clearly feeling awkward about everything, "Or an alien? Or an alien minotaur? That's not a question I thought I'd be asking this morning."

"Both," Mac glanced at her, "Looks like a Nimon, probably distantly related to it."

"They descend on planets and set themselves up as Gods to be worshipped," the Doctor agreed, starting to talk now that it was more technical than actually answering questions, "Which is fine, until the inhabitants get all secular and advanced enough to build bonkers prisons."

"Correction," Rory called from where he was looking at a porthole in the floor, "Prisons in space."

"Where are the guards?" Amy looked around.

"No need for any," the Doctor pointed at the control panel behind them, "It's all automated. It drifts through space, snatching people with belief systems and converts their faith into food for the creature."

Amy glanced at the Time Lords, "It didn't want just me. So, you must believe in some god or someone, or they'd have shown you the door, too. So, what do Time Lords pray to?"

"We do have a belief system Amy," Mac nodded, "But it's not just about religion that the creature wanted," she reminded her, "It's just about believing in something, not about prayer."

"So what do you believe in then?"

The Time Lords glanced at each other, the Doctor feeling a wide smile break out over his face when he saw Mac look at him. Despite it all, he could feel his hearts swelling, she believed in him…she believed in him again! They'd never really discussed that aspect of their relationship, he'd always believed in her, but he knew the last her had issues with believing in him…so to find out that she did again…that was wonderful.

"The program probably developed a fault," Mac guessed, looking back, "It would explain why the rooms weren't sent back."

Amy looked down as the monster started to growl, but with a sort of pattern to it that made it sound like it was talking instead of moaning in pain, "What's it saying?"

Mac glanced at the Doctor a moment, seeing the pained look in his eyes, before translating herself, "'An ancient creature, drenched in the blood of the innocent, drifting in space through an endless, shifting maze. For such a creature, death would be a gift,'" she looked down at the monster and crouched down to pat its arm, "And now you can, rest."

The Doctor stiffened, squeezing her hand, making Mac stand when the beast growled once more, "'I wasn't talking about myself,'" he breathed, tugging Mac closer to him, winding his arms around her, just…needing the comfort.

"Come on," Mac squeezed his hand in return and led him to the TARDIS, wanting to get him out of there.

"Could I have a lift?" Gibbis asked as Mac unlocked the box, "Just to the nearest galaxy would do."

~8~

Amy and Rory stared in confusion as they stepped out of the TARDIS to see they were standing before a row of townhouses, a light blue one with a TARDIS blue door right in front of them…with a red, classic Jaguar car parked before it.

"What do you think?" Mac asked, eyeing them as they stared at the house.

"Don't tell me," Amy sighed, "This isn't Earth, that isn't a real house. And inside lives a goblin, who feeds on indecision."

"Not exactly," Mac laughed.

"Real Earth, real house," the Doctor agreed, tossing Amy a set of house keys, "Real door keys!"

Amy stared at them and then the Time Lords with wide eyes, realizing that they were GIVING them a house! An entire house! "You're not serious?"

"And Rory?" Mac called, tossing him another set of keys.

Rory gaped at them, "The car too?!" he looked at Mac a moment before he nearly ran to the car, moving around it, inspecting it, "But that's my favorite car! How did you know that was my favorite car?"

Mac laughed, "Because you said it in Utah," Mac reminded him, Amy had made a comment about the red station wagon the Doctor had with him and Rory bought up that jaguar car.

"Rory?" Amy called to him, "Can you give us two minutes? Two minutes?"

Rory quickly moved to hug Mac and then the Doctor, putting his arms around them, "She'll say we can't accept it because it's too extravagant and we'll always feel a crippling sense of obligation," he glanced at the car and back to them, "It's a risk I'm willing to take!"

Mac laughed and nudged him off, Rory walking into the house but keeping his gaze on the car as long as he possibly could. Amy leaned against it and patted the bonnet for them to join her. The Doctor moved beside her but reached out and tugged Mac to him, into his arms when she went to move to Amy's other side, keeping his arms around her as Amy smiled at them, "So...you're leaving, aren't you?"

"You haven't seen the last of us," the Doctor promised, "Bad Penny is my middle name! Seriously, the looks I get when I fill in a form..."

"It really is," Mac sighed, "I've got the forms in UNIT to prove it."

Amy let out a small laugh at that, before she sobered, "Why now?"

"Because you're still breathing," the Doctor told her seriously.

"Amy…there comes a time where something truly…truly dangerous happens and…" she looked at the Doctor, "We realize that we can't protect you as well as we have. When that point comes…it makes us feel like we're slacking or starting to, that we're getting too comfortable in thinking you can handle certain things when you can't. At that point…we HAVE to say goodbye, because it'll only get worse, and next time you WILL get hurt."

"Well, I think this is about the washing-up, personally," Amy muttered, sighing.

"There's still heaps of stuff out there to look at," the Doctor shrugged, pushing off the car and taking Mac's hand, leading her back to the TARDIS, "Do you know, there's a planet whose name literally translates as 'Volatile Circus?'" he leaned on the corner of the box as Mac unlocked it, "Or maybe there's a bigger, scarier adventure waiting for you in there?" he gave Amy knowing look.

Amy glanced back at the house and then to them, "Even so, it can't happen like this," she moved over to them, "After everything we've been through, especially us," she gave Mac a look, "You can't just drop me off at my house and say goodbye like we shared a cab."

"Kenzie was right though Amy," the Doctor shook his head, "Next time it'll be us saying goodbye by standing over your grave, or over your broken body, or Rory's body, or…"

Mac put a hand on the Doctor's arm, "She gets it Doctor," she whispered.

Amy looked at them, seeing the genuine concern they had in their eyes for her and Rory. She nodded to herself, she couldn't bring herself to force them to take her on when they'd be fearing for her and Rory the entire time. It wouldn't be enjoyable anymore, it would end up becoming more like them babysitting, stressing, and she didn't want that, she'd rather have the memories of how wonderful it was than to turn into something restrictive.

"If you see River," she offered, "Tell her to come visit us some time too."

Mac nodded, "Of course," even though Amy had no memory of ever carrying River or giving birth to her, she did still love that little girl as though she were a niece, which she rather was in a sense.

"Look after Rory for us," the Doctor whispered, hugging her.

"Look after each other," Amy countered though she nodded in promise, kissing the Doctor's forehead, Mac's cheek, before the two Time Lords entered the TARDIS, the box slowly disappearing.

~8~

"What was in your room?" Mac glanced at the Doctor as he absently looked at the monitor.

He sighed, "You."

Mac blinked, "ME?"

"Alone," he looked at her, "You were there, all alone…and I wasn't there because…too much time passed."

Mac nodded slowly, understanding his fear, his fear of one day leaving HER as the last Time Lord out there. River had given up all her regenerations, she was on her last life, and they knew how that life would end. Teddy well…they didn't know just how Time Lord he really was, if he could regenerate or not even though River said she'd met him before.

"And you?" he looked at her.

She looked down, "You," she gave a small smile, "Dead."

He nodded, before slowly making his way around the console and to her side, taking her hands, "Naery…I know something's happened," he began, "I know that…that you saw me die, not in your room but…in Utah," Mac looked at him, half-startled and half-expecting that, "Don't ever think you can hide something from me," he tapped her nose, "I can read you like a book."

She sighed, "You've worked it out then?"

He nodded, "I know that you all saw a future version of me, given all that hullabaloo about my age. I know that you saw him die, because of your reactions, how you all acted around me. I'd guess that astronaut suit was involved, Amy wouldn't have tried to shoot it for no reason and that…if it was the thing that killed me, that would be something to drive her to it. I know that the date and time and place are…are a fixed point," he sighed, "The Teselecta had some data I was able to recover. I'm going to even go so far as to say the suit shot me?" he saw her wince and knew it was true, "You were very much against just mentioning being shot so it made sense it would be a gun…" he reached out and touched her chin, gently lifting it up to look at her, "Naery…I need to know everything else, anything I'm missing that could help me."

"You started to regenerate," she said softly, looking at him.

He frowned, "But that's…" he shook his head, that wasn't right.

"It could be," she gave him a meaningful look, "If I…"

"No," he cut in, "No, you're not doing that. I won't have you waste a life like that, not on some silly old Doctor."

"But he's MY silly old Doctor and I won't see him die!" she cut in, snapping a bit before she took a breath, but she could still feel the tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry Theta but…I won't let it happen. No matter what, I won't let you die, I'll find some way around it, some way to keep it a fixed point but avoid you dying…"

"Well then," he smiled, touched by how passionate she was being. He recalled her words about Pompeii, his fears of her reaction on Mars, this new her as a bit more open to stretching the rules at times…and he was so glad she wanted to stretch them for him, "The two of us working on it?" he gave a soft laugh, "That fixed point doesn't stand a chance."

A/N: I apologize there was no chapter yesterday, just...difficult times at home :( Monday was my parents' anniversary and my dad always tries to make it a family thing (even though it annoys my mother because EVERYTHING is a family thing to him and she always complains that just 1 day a year, their anniversary, she'd like to go out to dinner with just him). I FINALLY manage to convince him to go to dinner with just her...and then he takes it back at the last second and made us all go...4 hours that I was planning to dedicate to editing DW and Merlin gone :( And then Tuesday when I was going to make up for that, well, let's just say after every big holiday or milestone for my family a fight inevitably breaks out :( Happened at Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays...it's like you get the one good day and then it all falls to hell the next so I didn't get a chance to edit till this morning :( I can't promise a double whammy will be coming, I might try to post a few of the mini-sode/prequels up the same day as a regular chapter though :)

For this chapter though, the Doctor knows! :) And awww, Mac's room :( I don't know what it was, but this wasn't one of my favorite episodes of the series :/ But we're so close to the end! Only 5 more chapters left!

Some notes on reviews...

I'm very glad your mother's ok! ^-^

My sister's had about...5 boyfriends who have made it past the 6 month mark (including this last one), and about...3 or 4 more that only lasted a few weeks to a few months. My brother's had about 8 girlfriends (they're all completely psychotic though, seriously, I think one ended up with a restraining order from a boyfriend after my brother)...and I've had...0 boyfriends lol. But this was the one that seemed ok to me yup. But from what I heard, his roommate heard them fighting and called him out on being ridiculous and he's currently grovelling to my sister, not sure if she'll take him back or not :/

Lol, I agree, foreknowledge is dangerous in time travel, sometimes you end up creating the future, like with Pompeii or Mars :(

Awesome, expect a birthday shout out ;)

Winston will show up if he was in the actual episodes, but not in anything original ;) I felt it was a tiny bit offensive to put Hitler in there, but the show did it anyway lol, so Winston would be there too ;)

Mac already knows about Ace so the Doctor wouldn't have to really say anything :) I sort of see UNIT keeping track of any companions of the Doctor and getting accounts of their time with him to put in their files, so Mac's probably read all of it ;)

Oh the Doctor can silence Mac all he wants, there's no problem if he puts a finger on his own lips or makes motions to stop her talking...she doesn't like it when he physically covers her mouth to stop her because her husband did that to silence her for YEARS :( And Mac doesn't actually touch him when she makes her little motion, it's sort of like her way of doing a 'fingers on lips' thing. The Doctor could tell her to shut up or motion for it, but physically covering her mouth to stop her brings up very bad memories of her husband :(


	15. Closing Time

Closing Time

The Doctor rang the doorbell of a lovely little house, much to the annoyance of Mac. It seemed that the last oh…near 200 years, where it had mostly been just the two of them, with their daughter popping up here and there, and them making sure to see her every single year when her birthday came around for them…which ended up being more like them randomly popping up for her in her timeline…she'd gotten a bit behind in her progress towards humans. When she'd first started travelling with him, she'd always said that humans needed to grow on her…Rory had been one of the first he'd seen her really and genuinely take to. But the centuries alone had made her a bit more distant from them once more. Right now she was a little more than annoyed that he kept interrupting their investigations into the Silence by making trips to Earth. He only took one a year, on his birthday, to visit his past companions and friends, but he'd missed the last one as they'd been in the middle of a very secretive operation. He was making up for it now by visiting Craig Owens, and she really wished he wouldn't. It wasn't that she didn't like Craig, he was a good man, but she really wanted to work out how to save the Doctor. She had come up with a plethora of plans and ideas, but there was always something that they'd learn later that would make the plan difficult to maintain and she just wanted one, just one plan that she could use to save the Doctor, she was NOT about to let him die and had spent all that time thinking on it and obsessing over it, trying to get it so that he wouldn't die at the lake.

"I'm coping on my own!" Craig suddenly shouted as the door flew open, making her look up at him.

"That's nice," Mac remarked, nodding, "See dear, he's just fine, let's go…"

But the Doctor just took her hand and grinned at Craig, "Hello, Craig! We're back!"

Craig, for his part, merely gaped at them, "She didn't? How could she phone you?"

"Who, Sophie?" Mac blinked, "I gave her the number to the TARDIS if she had any suspicions about aliens around."

"But nobody phoned us," the Doctor added, "We're just here," he leaned in and glanced around at the inside of Craig's home, "You've redecorated! I don't like it."

"You're one to talk," Mac laughed, "Didn't your fifth self not like the TARDIS desktop?"

"It's a different house, we moved," Craig shook his head, slowly coming out of his shock.

"Yes, that's it," the Doctor nodded.

"Wanted to get away from the aliens?" Mac asked him, giving the Doctor a pointed look at that, if Craig had moved there to avoid the aliens, then he probably didn't want MORE aliens standing on his doorstep.

"What _are_ you doing here?" Craig wondered, almost sounding like he agreed with Mac's thoughts.

"Social call," the Doctor smiled.

"Procrastination," Mac corrected, "Distraction. Shall I go on?"

"Thought it was about time I tried one out," the Doctor continued as though Mac hadn't interrupted, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Craig said slowly.

The Doctor nodded, "This is the bit where we say, 'We're fine, too' isn't it? We're fine, too."

"Wonderful," Mac nodded, "Now that's out of the way, we should go, say hi to Sophie for us!" she took the Doctor's arm and turned to lead him off…only for the light above the front door to flicker and the Doctor to stop dead.

"Something's wrong!" he cried, spinning on his heel to run back into the house, pushing past Craig and whipping out his sonic in the process to try and find the disturbance.

"Doctor!" Mac huffed, running after him as he rushed up the stairs.

"On your own, you said," he called to Craig, "But you're not... you're not on your own!"

"Just, shhh!" Craig tried to quiet him, following the Time Lords up the stairs.

"Increased sulfur emissions," the Doctor called back to them as he ran up to the upstairs hall, "And look at the state of this place. What are you not telling us?" he demanded of Craig.

"Doctor, please…"

"Shhh!"

"No, you shhh!"

Mac shook her head as they went on a 'shh!' war and turned to walk down the hall towards the door the Doctor had been pointing the sonic at. She'd just barely opened it when the Doctor cried out, "Kenzie no!" and ran after her, shoving the door open and moving in front of her as though to protect her from whatever was inside…only for them both to see it was a nursery for a baby boy that was now fussing in his little crib.

"Oh, you've woken him!" Craig complained as he hurried over to his son and picked him up. Mac took one look at the baby boy before she slowly backed out of the room, her hearts clenching painfully at the sight.

~8~

Mac was fidgeting around Craig's kitchen, probably making a mess of everything as she reorganized his shelves and fridge and freezer and everything she could get her hands on to try and avoid looking at the baby. It was just…too soon. They hadn't dealt with a baby since Merina and she didn't think she could handle it. They were always very careful to avoid babies on their trips, well, the Doctor was because she was sure he could tell that she wasn't ready to be around them, she wasn't sure she ever would be. It was just…she'd held a baby in her arms…and it turned into Flesh. She could understand why he'd had Rory step away from Amy in the TARDIS, it was traumatic. She couldn't bring herself to touch a baby for fear of that, she couldn't get herself to even look at one when she couldn't stop thinking about losing her own. The Doctor had tried his best to convince her that she was a good person, that it wasn't her fault all the children in her life were lost…but it didn't quite resonate with her fully. Children who were older…she could handle that, they were old enough to listen when she said hide or run or stay there, babies…they relied solely on the adults around them and she was terrified she'd do something and they'd be as lost too.

"So when you say on your own..." the Doctor began, looking from Craig to the baby, though his attention was largely on Mac.

"Yes, I meant on my own with the baby, yes," Craig bobbed his son up and down as he held him, "Cos no one thinks I can cope on my own. Which is so unfair. Because...I can't cope on my own with him!" Craig started to plead as he set the baby in a chair, "I can't. He just cries. All the time. I mean, do they have off-switches?"

"I wonder the same about the Doctor," Mac muttered.

But the Doctor just smiled, "You know what my off switch is," he winked at her. She'd stopped using the 'stop talking' sign as the go-to method of quieting him down, instead she was more fond of kissing him. What's more…that was actually a way of quieting her as well without the negative connotations of literally covering her mouth with his hand or finger. He rather liked using his mouth to silence her, it was a gentler method, a much more enjoyable one and one that was just uniquely his. Her husband had rarely kissed her so she didn't associate a kiss with him trying to shut her up so as 'not to make a fool of him' as her husband had done, but more because she could tell he also rather enjoyed kissing her. They'd grown closer, Mac more than ever to him, in the centuries alone. It seemed her determination to see him survive whatever was coming had made her even more aware of his presence. She didn't like being away from him for too long.

And that was fine with him.

"Sometimes this works for babies though," the Doctor leaned forward, his finger on his lips, and whispered out, "Shhhh…" at the baby, quieting him.

"Can you teach me to do that?" Craig stared at him.

"I doubt it," Mac patted Craig's back as she walked past him to the next cupboard to fix up.

"Oh, please come on, I need something, I'm rubbish at this."

"At what?" the Doctor laughed.

"Being a dad. You read all the books, they tell you you'll know what to do if you follow your instinct. I have no instinct! That's what this weekend's about, trying to prove to people I can do this one thing well."

"Can't be worse than me," the Doctor shrugged, his smile fading a bit, thinking of his luck with children. He'd raised some good ones, but…they were all dead in the war, and now with Mac…he'd had his daughter all of an hour or two and she'd been kidnapped and turned into an assassin who tried to kill him.

"What's his name Craig?" Mac asked, not sure why she had, she didn't want to form any sort of attachment to the child, yet she found herself asking before she even realized it.

"Alfie," Craig sighed, moving to the tea kettle and turning it off as it whistled, going about making tea…only to realize that the tea cups weren't in their usual cupboard.

"Sorry," Mac winced, moving to the cupboard right above where the teabags were stored, "They're here now."

"Why?"

"Makes a little tea triangle," she shrugged, "Tea bags," she pointed to the left on the counter, "Tea kettle," then the right on the stove, "And tea cups," and the cupboard right above them in the middle of the first two objects.

"Right…thanks," Craig nodded, going about making the tea, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Hmmm…Alfie," the Doctor listened to the baby gurgling, ignoring Mac making a bit more noise to try and cover the sounds so she wouldn't have to hear too, "He likes it. Though personally he prefers to be called Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All."

"Sorry," Craig stopped and turned to face him, "What?"

"That's what he calls himself."

"How do you know that?"

"We speak Baby," Mac sighed.

Craig rolled his eyes at that, "Of course you do! I don't even know when his nappy needs changing," he fell down heavily in a chair, rubbing a hand down his face, "I'm the one supposed to be his dad."

"He's wondering where his mum is?" the Doctor mentioned quietly, seeing Mac move over to the tea to resume preparing it.

"Where did Sophie get off to?" Mac called.

"Gone away with Melina for the weekend," he remarked, "Needs a rest."

"No," the Doctor laughed as Alfie gurgled, "He's your dad, you can't just call him 'Not-Mum.'"

"Not-Mum?"

"That's you. Also, Not Mum, that's me," he cleared his throat at bit, "Nope, sorry, you can't have her," he glanced at Mac, "Keznie's mine and I don't share," he tickled Alfie's stomach as the boy grumbled, "And everybody else is...peasants. That's a bit unfortunate."

"What are you here for?" Craig looked between them, seeing that they were both acting very differently around the baby and each other.

"Just popped in to say hello," the Doctor shrugged.

"Even though we were busy," Mac reminded him, "He never listens," she sighed, placing the tea down before them all and sitting down on a chair…only for the Doctor to reach under it and tug it right up beside him as close as it could get, winding his arm around her shoulders and rubbing her shoulder with his thumb.

"I checked down stairs when I moved in," Craig remarked, "And next door, both sides, they're humans. Is it the fridge? Are there aliens in my fridge?"

"Not from what I saw when I was organizing it," Mac reassured him, "Though that milk is on the verge of going bad, may want to get some before the morning…"

"We really did just want to see you, Craig!" the Doctor promised, "Cross my hearts," he did that as well, "We've been knocking about on our own, just Kenzie and me," he smiled at her, leaning in to brush his nose to her temple, "Best 200 years of my life," he whispered to her, before sighing and looking at Craig, "Bit of a farewell tour. One last thing, popping in to see you, then we're off to the Alignment of Exedor."

"Which we should be getting to now," Mac reminded him, "We've 'popped' in."

"The Alignment of Exedor?" Craig repeated.

"It's a galactic phenomenon," Mac sighed, "17 galaxies in perfect unison."

"Meant to be spectacular," the Doctor cheered, "Though I doubt it would be as spectacular as Kenzie here, she's lovely," he winked at her, "But we can't miss it. Literally can't. It's locked in a time stasis field, we get one crack at flying my TARDIS straight into it, if I get my dates right…" he glanced at a newspaper, "Which I have."

"For once."

"Sounds nice," Craig nodded slowly, still not quite sure what it was.

"So this is us popping in and popping out again," the Doctor lowly dropped the newspaper, making Mac look over, "Just being social, just having a laugh. Never mind that."

"Never mind what?" Craig frowned.

"Nothing."

"Are we going now then?" Mac asked, starting to get up.

"No, hold on," Craig stood too, "He noticed something," he pointed at the Doctor, "you've got your noticing face on. I have nightmares about that face."

"Nope, given up all that, done with noticing things."

"Hardly," Mac scoffed, "That's why it takes us so long everywhere we go, you notice everything," she glanced up as the lights flickered.

"Didn't even notice that," he defended.

"You just proved my point Doctor," Mac sighed, knowing that they were probably going to have to stick around a little longer, try to see if they could work out what was causing the fluctuations, along with the disappearances the Doctor spotted on the newspaper. She'd seen it all in his mind, they'd been working on that for the last 50 years or so, strengthening their mental connection. Time Lords were naturally telepathic, but they'd both needed to work on building their sup again.

"Well, um," he glanced at Craig, "As Kenzie said, it's been a bit of a long stay, got to go. Good seeing you, Craig," he shook Craig's hand, "Goodbye, Stormageddon," and gave two Gallic air kisses to Alfie before he took Mac's hand and quickly pulled her off.

"No, no, wait, wait, could you do the shushing thing?" Craig called, racing after them.

"No, it only works once, and only on life forms with underdeveloped brains," the Doctor replied, not stopping.

"Hang on, you said farewell tour? What do you mean, farewell?"

Mac spun around and whispered, "Shhh," with her fingers to her lips, quieting Craig a moment before the Doctor was pulling her off, knowing he didn't want to speak of the little slip he'd given before.

"Just go," he started mumbling to himself, "Stop noticing. Just go! Stop noticing! Just go. Stop noticing. Just go. Stop it!" he looked up at a flickering streetlight, "Am I noticing?"

"Yes," Mac nodded.

"No," he pointed his finger at her, "No I am not. And what I am not doing is scanning for electrical fluctuations," he pulled the sonic out to flick it at the light.

"Really now?" Mac gave him a look.

"Oh, shut up," he huffed, pouting, "Why can't it be easy?" he asked her, "Why can't we just drop in on a friend? The last thing we need right now is a patina of teleport energy."

"And we both know that saying and doing are very different things," she reached out to touch his cheek, "Your curiosity has been piqued, we might as well look into it."

He sighed, resting his head to her forehead, "But the alignment…"

"Will be there," she reminded him, "And we have a time machine."

He nodded against her head, "Right then, let's go," and took her hand, pulling her into the box.

~8~

Mac sighed as she stood in the department store, in the toy department, in the back of it, stocking shelves. She could hear children laughing down the other end and knew it was the Doctor entertaining them with a toy helicopter. She'd been a bit more of the 'mature one' when they'd applied for jobs there and gotten hired, having traced the source of the power fluctuations there. She'd been left to organize and stock and put the proper price stickers on the boxes…the Doctor had started to do the same, but had ended up putting the price sticker all over his clothes as he had fun with the gun, and so they'd changed it up to him selling merchandise to the children. She was quite glad for it. He loved children, as did she, but she was still sore and hurt from the loss of Merina, having been able to spend that month with her. The Doctor, while he hurt as well, was better able to deal with being around children. She could handle one or two, but in a toy store there were gaggles of them.

She heard the laughter die down after a moment and peeked to the side to see that the children had run off, the doctor now speaking to Craig and shook her head, getting back to the pricing. She could see a bit of a red welt on Craig's forehead and, as the helicopter was now on the table, she could assume that he'd accidently hit Craig in the head with it.

She jumped though when something small and metal whizzed past her, "Doctor!" she called.

"What was that?" the Doctor rushed over to her as she was already on her knees, looking around for the object…but it was gone, too fast for her to really see what it was.

"You're here for a reason, aren't you?" Craig was saying as he followed after the Doctor, pushing Alfie in a small pram, "You noticed something, and you're investigating it's you, it's going to be dangerous and alien."

"We don't really know what it is Craig," Mac murmured as she took the Doctor's outstretched hand and stood, "It could be nothing."

"Hardly," the Doctor mimicked her with a nudge to her ribs playfully.

"I mean it could be benign just as much as it could be dangerous."

"Look," Craig stepped between them, seeing them starting to smile at each other, "I live here, I need to know!"

Mac glanced down at Alfie and away quickly, knowing that Craig needed to know as much as they did to protect his son, it was what she always thought when it came to the companions too, the more they knew the safer they were, "Sheila Clark went missing on Tuesday," Mac told him, "And last Friday there was another disappearance, Atif Ghosh. And on Sunday Tom Luker went missing too."

Craig looked at the news paper she'd picked up, "Why's that not on the front page?" he took it, trying to find the information himself.

"Page one has an exclusive on Nina," the Doctor explained, "A local girl who got kicked off Britain's Got Talent. These people are on pages seven, 19, 22," he started to move forward, absently pushing the pram with him as it blocked his way, "No one's noticed yet, they're far too excited about Nina's emotional journey, which in fairness, is quite inspiring."

"And what else?" Craig looked at them.

"The power fluctuations," she glanced at him, "You probably think they're just the town council getting in the way yes?" Craig nodded, "But the fluctuations are happening from HERE. And they started the same day as the first disappearance."

"Ahh, and here's a lift," the Doctor grinned as they came to one that was out of order, protective tape strung all across it.

"It says out of order," Craig pointed out.

"That's never stopped him before," Mac mused.

The Doctor grinned and pulled the tape down, "And it won't stop me now," he flashed it with the sonic to open the doors and pushed the pram in, Craig taking over for him as the three of them gathered in the lift.

"It says, 'danger,'" Craig added.

"And the Doctor just screams it," Mac laughed, "You still followed him through the store."

"Besides, lifts aren't dangerous," the Doctor waved him off.

Craig gave them ma look, "Do I look like I'm stupid? "

The Doctor nearly snorted at Alfie as he gurgled a response to that, "Quiet, Stormy!"

"We've also picked up a teleport relay whenever the power fluctuates," Mac added, the Doctor flashing the sonic around at the lift.

"And the missing people were all seen in this area last," the Doctor nodded, reaching out to put a finger on Craig's lips, "Before you ask, CCTV's been wiped."

"A teleport?" Craig started to stammer, "A teleport? Like a beam me up teleport, like you see in Star Trek?"

"Not quite," Mac said at the same time that the Doctor agreed with, "Exactly."

"Someone's been using a beam me up Star Trek teleport," the Doctor continued, "Could be disguised as anything."

"But a teleport?" Craig shook his head, "In a shop? That's ridiculous!" the Time Lords looked up as the lights flickered…and suddenly they weren't in the lift any more, not that Craig seemed to notice, "What was that? Was that the lights again?"

"Yes, that's it," the Doctor answered, his voice squeaky, "That's all, it's the lights."

"Why did you say that like that?" Craig frowned.

"Like what?" he cleared his throat as his voice was still high, "Like, like what?"

"Like that, in that high-pitched voice."

"Craig," Mac reached out to touch his shoulder, shooting the Doctor a look for what he was trying to cover up, "What did we just say was activated when the power fluctuated?"

"A…a teleport," Craig began, stiffening, before he looked back over his shoulder, realizing they were NOT in the lift any longer, "Oh, my God! What is happening?"

They were in a dark space, a ship they recognized to be that of the Cybermen before them. It looked dark, disused, and for one brief moment they thought that, perhaps, it was an old ship and empty…but then a Cyberman stepped through the door.

"And what is that?!"

The Doctor quickly whipped out the sonic and held it up, flicking it on and sending them back to the lift. Normally he would have been fine striding up to the Cyber and demanding to know what was going on and then trying to stop it…but Craig was there, with Alfie, and they'd already lost one baby, they would never ever force anyone to experience that loss ever.

"Quick reverse," the Doctor let out a breath of relief.

"What the hell just happened?!" Craig demanded as the doors to the lift opened and the Time Lords rushed out, him hurrying after them with Alfie.

"The teleport relay brought ups to their ship," Mac told him, "Has to be connected to the lift use then."

"But I've fused it," the Doctor reassured Craig, "They can't use that again. Stuck up there on their spaceship."

"What were those things?" Craig asked as they stepped outside, looking up at the night's sky.

"Cybermen," Mac answered.

"Ship? Space ship? We were in space?"

"It's got to be up there somewhere," the Doctor flashed the sky with the sonic, "Can't get a fix, it must be shielded."

"You fused the teleport. You sorted it. They can't come back."

"If they can build a teleport Craig, they can work out how to fix it," Mac sighed, "We just bought some more time."

"Still got to work out what they're doing before we can stop it," the Doctor agreed.

"But if they've got the teleport and they're evil, why haven't they invaded already?" Craig frowned.

"Craig... take Alfie and go."

"No!"

"No?"

"No, I remember from last time, people got killed, people that didn't know you. I know where it's safest, for me and Alfie. And that's right next to you two."

Mac shook her head sadly, "It really isn't, especially not me."

"Safest place in the universe," the Doctor argued, putting his arm around her, "In your arms."

She gave him the smallest of smiles at that, Craig adding, "You always win, you always survive! And this time I can help you, I'm staying!"

The Doctor looked at the man, ,"Craig…" he began before shaking his head, "Alright, alright..." he smiled at Mac, "Maybe those days aren't quite over yet. Let's go and investigate... I mean, there's no immediate danger now."

"You really felt the need to have to say THAT, didn't you Doctor?" Mac sighed, just knowing he'd likely jinxed it.

~8~

Mac quickly made her way out of the ladies changing rooms only a short while later. They'd split up a bit, the Doctor speaking to Val, one of the tenders of the jewelry department, while Craig and Alfie looked around the toy department for any sign of the silver thing they'd seen before and she took the ladies' changing rooms where, according to an employee, Kelly, her manager hadn't shown up for her shift before and the last place she'd seen her was in the changing rooms. She'd gone there to try and see if there was any sign of where the woman had gone, if perhaps there was a teleport there as well…

But there was nothing, yet.

"…bermats are infiltrators," she heard the Doctor speaking to Craig when she arrived back to them where they were waiting a small distance away. She had refused to allow either man into the ladies section and gone in herself, it seemed he was telling Craig what the 'little silver rat' that Val had seen was, a Cybermat, "Very small, very deadly... they collect power like bees collect pollen. One of them's been sucking the electrical energy from this area. But why a shop, you know, why not a nuclear power station?"

"Ok, why?" Craig frowned.

"No idea," Mac answered as she joined them, "No sign of the Cybermats or Cybermen in the changing rooms."

"Let's ask it," the Doctor grinned, "We wait for the shop to shut, we stake the place out, and grab ourselves a Cybermat."

"And this is just a coincidence, is it?" Craig sighed.

"What is?"

"Aliens in Colchester? Aliens twice in my life, happening to me just when you turn up."

"We didn't plan for this to happen Craig," Mac remarked.

"Shh, shh," he tried to calm Alfie as he fussed.

"There's a changing station by electrical goods," Mac told him, "He's complaining about his nappy," even though she was trying her best to not get close to the baby, hearing it whining and crying broke her hearts.

"Thanks," he sighed, "Come on, Alfie," he turned and headed off with the boy.

"Craig it's a coincidence," the Doctor still tried to defend, "It happens, it's what the universe does for..." he trailed off suddenly and Mac turned to see what he was staring at, "Fun."

And there they were, Amy and Rory, at the end of the aisle, just shopping. They watched as a little girl came up to Amy for her autograph and were a bit curious what it was for…but when the Ponds headed off and they ducked to the side, the little girl pointed at them and they turned to see a large ad with Amy's face on it for a perfume, Petrichor.

The Doctor smiled at the slogan, 'For the girl who's tired of waiting,' "Amelia Pond."

Mac just stepped closer to him and wound her arm around his waist, hugging him tightly from the side as he put his arm around her shoulders in return.

~8~

Mac had never been more uncomfortable in her life than when she was sitting on Craig's sofa, watching the man nearly fall asleep with Alfie on his chest.

It had been a right old mess after the Doctor got the brilliant idea to stake out the store and try and catch a Cybermat. She'd told Craig exactly what a Cybermat was and did and he hadn't wanted Alfie anywhere near it while they were hunting it, not till he knew it was safe. But Craig was a smart one, he also knew that the chances of the Doctor actually returning to see them afterwards would be slim if he wasn't right there next to the man. So he'd asked HER to watch Alfie, to stand outside the shop and hold the baby till they made it out. She had protested, she really didn't want to be around babies ever again, but the doctor had merely reminded her that she had to overcome her fears at some point and had agreed with Craig that she remain with Alfie.

She'd thought that would be it, that would be all that she'd have to hold the baby for…and she'd been wrong. Because, of course, the Doctor HAD to actually manage to capture a Cybermat and bring it into Craig's home to try and tinker with…

And it got loose.

She'd been chasing after it up the stairs and run into the Doctor running from it with Alfie in his arms and they'd ended up outside…as the Cybermat proceeded to attack Craig inside. The Doctor all but shoved Alfie in her arms and ran in to help him, leaving her with the baby for a second time within an hour. She thought the boy was adorable but…it just hurt, it hurt so much to have the baby in her arms and to know she'd never gotten to hold her own son like that, as a baby, that he'd been fully grown, and that the few moments she'd gotten to do the same with River she'd ended up full grown the next time as well. Her first child…she hadn't…it was just so small and she just…

She couldn't do it. The second Craig was up and at 'em she gave the baby back to him and excused herself to the toilet to wipe her face, knowing she was about to start crying. The Doctor had come to find her and comfort her, knowing all too well how hard it was for her. But they had a mission to see to, the Cybermen had to be stopped and they just had to work out the best course of action. And right now it was working on tweaking the Cybermat to be their own little spy.

"I'm knackered," Craig yawned, watching as Mac fiddled with the small rat, the Doctor helping her and handing her tools. He knew he could reprogram it easily, but seemed to be allowing the Time Lady to do it for distraction, "That thing was eating up the electricity."

"And delivering it to the Cybership yes," Mac nodded.

"But why?" the Doctor sighed, "Why do they need power, why are those conversions not complete yet, and what are they doing up there?" he'd learned that the hard way when he'd gone to confront the Cybermen after finding the Cybermat, the missing people were being used for conversions.

"You said you were going to look at its brain…" Craig began.

"I had to wipe its brain," the Doctor reminded him, getting the creature to stop attacking Craig had taken some doing and some damage, "Now Kenzie can reprogram it, use it as a weapon against them."

"The Cybermat came after us?"

"No, after me."

"They sent it after us?"

"After me. Because of me, you and Alfie nearly died," he rubbed his face, "Do you still feel safe with me, Craig?"

"I do," Mac offered, reaching out to take his hand, making him smile, "And you DID save Craig's life," she reminded him.

"You can't help who your mates are," Craig shrugged, closing his eyes a moment.

"No," the Doctor shook his head, "I am a stupid and selfish man."

"You always were," Mac reached up to touch his face, "My stupid old Doctor eh?"

He smiled at that, leaning into her touch, "I should have made them go, I should have taken just you with me and we should have gone to the TARDIS instead. I put people in danger."

"Stop beating yourself up," Craig yawned, "If it wasn't for you this whole planet would be an absolute ruin."

"Craig," the Doctor sighed, "Very soon I won't be here... my time is running out. I don't mean Exedor. Silence will fall when the question is asked. Don't even know what the question is. Always knew I'd die still asking. Thing is, Craig, it's tomorrow. Can't put it off any more. Tomorrow is the day I..."

"You are NOT going to die," Mac said fiercely, cutting him off, speaking quietly as Craig and Alfie fell asleep, "And if you say it one more time Doctor, or so much as think it…_I_ will kill you myself. We are going to save you," she looked at him, her gaze softening, "After all you've ever done for me…I'll save you, it's my turn to do something for you."

He smiled at that, at how protective she was of him, how much she wanted him to live even knowing what regeneration he was on, "Then we'd better work out how to stop the Cybers first then eh?"

She smiled in return and nodded, the two of them getting to work.

~8~

It had been a bit too easy to find the Cybermen once they'd had time to properly think on what was going on. The teleport was fused, they couldn't beam down, so they had to have another method of getting to the store and getting others to the ship…which meant that the ship wasn't actually in space. One more look at the changing rooms with the sonic revealed there was a disillium-bonded steel door in the rooms, disguised as a mirror, that led to a tunnel, that led to the ship that was buried under the department store. There were hardly any Cybers there that they could see, which made it easy to sneak inside, to get to the conversion room where the Doctor found evidence of the conversions as he spotted a security guard's name tag on the ground.

"You have come to us," a Cyberman spoke behind them and they spun around to see it standing in the doorway.

"Took us a while," the Doctor shrugged, "A lot on my mind. Let's see, this ship crashed here centuries ago, no survivors, but the systems are dormant waiting for power. And then the council stick a load of new cables right on top of you. Bitey wakes up," he held up the Cybermat, "And channels the power, you start crewing up from the shop as best you can, not enough power, not enough parts."

"When we are ready we will emerge. We will convert this planet to Cyberform."

"I don't think you will," Mac shook her head, "There's only about six of you if we counted right."

"That is enough."

"Not when we're here," Mac took the Doctor's hand, "You don't deactivate yourselves then we do it for you."

The Doctor moved to aim his sonic at the Cyber, wanting to help strengthen Mac's threat…when their arms were suddenly wrenched behind them as other Cybers snuck up on them, holding them back, making them drop the sonic and Cybermat as well.

"What do they always run on silent!" the Doctor grumbled, struggling in the hold of the Cyber behind him.

"Which shall be the new leader?" one of the Cybermen behind Mac asked the leader.

"Neither," the first stated, "They are not like us. Brain and binary vascular system incompatible. They will be discarded. Other body parts may be of use."

"Oi, Cybermen!" the Time Lords looked to the side as Craig jumped out, clearly having followed them despite the note they'd left when they'd snuck out that said not to, "Get off my planet, or I activate this!" he held up a price sticker maker gun.

"Craig, stop this, get out!" the Doctor shouted.

But Craig shook his head, "It's like you said, Doctor, got to believe you can do it!"

"You located us?" the Cyber behind Mac asked.

"Teleport in the lift, bit rubbish. That little Cybermat never stood a chance. See what you're dealing with?"

"Wrong thing to say!" Mac cried, "DON'T sound intelligent around them!"

It was too late though, "You are compatible," the first Cyber determined, "You are intelligent," it pressed a hand to its chest plate and shot a bolt of electricity at Craig, making him drop the sticker gun as another Cyber grabbed him.

"No," Craig agreed, "I'm not intelligent, you don't want me."

"Do not fear," the Cyber holding Mac called, "We will take your fear from you. You will be like us. You will be more than us."

"No, no, no, no!" Craig cried out as he was led towards the conversion chamber as it opened.

"Your designation is Cyber Controller. You will lead us, we will conquer this world."

"Help!" Craig shouted to the Time Lords as he was forced into the chamber.

"Craig!" the Doctor struggled, trying to get out of the Cyber's hold.

"Do something! Please!" he winced as clamps began to shut down around his arms and legs, "Help!"

"Craig hold on!" Mac shouted.

"Don't worry," the Doctor tried to reassure him, "We've reprogrammed the Cybermat, it'll drain their power!" he pulled the controls for the Mat out of his pocket, but one of the Cybermen merely stepped on the Mat, destroying it.

"You have failed, Doctor," the first Cyber stated, "Begin conversion! Phase one. Cleanse the brain of emotions."

"No! Craig!"

"Fight it!" Mac cried.

"They can't convert you if you fight back! You're strong, don't give in to it!"

"Help me!" Craig pleaded.

"Think about Sophie and Alfie," Mac tried, "Keep them in your mind!"

"Make it stop. Please make it stop!"

"Please, listen to us," the Doctor called, "We believe in you, I believe you can do this! I've always believed in all of you, all my life! I'm going die, Craig. Tomorrow, I'm going to die, but I don't mind if you just prove me right! CRAIG!"

Mac let out a breath when the headpiece shut around Craig, welding itself down the middle as he stared emotionlessly out at them, the process already starting.

"Begin full conversion," the first Cyber commanded and the Time Lords could do nothing but watch as the machinery started up…

When a second Cyber reported, ," Unknown soundwave detected," and turned on a monitor to see Val standing in the middle of the store with Alfie in her arms, the baby crying, crying for his father.

"It is the sound of fear," the second Cyber brushed it off, "It is irrelevant. We will remove all fear."

"Alfie!" the Doctor called to the baby though he knew Alfie couldn't hear, Mac closing her eyes tightly to try and block out the sounds of the baby crying, "I'm so sorry! Alfie, please stop! I can't help him."

"Emotions eradicated conversion complete… " the first Cyber started to say…when Craig's fingers twitched and alarms went off.

"Alert," the second Cyber warned, "Emotional subsystems rebooting. This is impossible."

Mac gasped as energy began to crackle around the headpiece, "He can hear Alfie!" she looked at the Doctor.

"Oh, please, just give me this!" the Doctor begged, before shouting out to Craig, "Craig, you wanted a chance to prove you're a dad. You're never going to get better one than this!"

"Brilliant Craig!" Mac cheered as the crack began to appear in the headpiece, "You're doing it!"

"What is happening?" the Cybers began to cry.

"What's happening, you metal moron?" the Doctor began to laugh, "A baby is crying. And you better watch out, cos guess what? Ha! Daddy's coming home!"

"Alfie!" Craig struggled, fighting against the machine as it sparked and opened, overloading, "Alfie, I'm here! I'm coming for you!"

"Yes, Craig!"

"Alfie!"

Mac pushed herself out of the Cyber's hold, the rest starting to stagger from the emotional onslaught brought about by Craig and his paternal instinct. She ran to the Doctor as he shouted more encouragements to Craig, "Alfie needs you!"

"Emergency!" the Cybers cried, "Emotional influx!"

"Got it!" Mac got him out of the last Cyber's hold and they ran to Craig, helping him out of the conversion unit.

"You've triggered a feedback loop into their emotional inhibitors," the Doctor told him quickly, "All that stuff they cut out of themselves, now they're feeling it! Which means a very big explosion!"

"Go!" Mac shouted as they freed Craig, pushing them all to the doors as the Cybers began to jerk.

"Get this open, we need to get to Alfie!" Craig shouted as they reached the doors, but they wouldn't budge.

"They've sealed the ship!" the Doctor winced, the Cyber's heads starting to explode.

"We've got to get out of here! "

"I know!"

"Teleport us!" Mac cried and the Doctor whipped out the sonic and flashed it, getting them all out of the room and into the lift just as the ship and the Cybers exploded beneath them. They only let out a breath of relief when the doors opened and revealed the department store, Craig rushing right for his son in Val's arms while the two Time Lords remained in the lift, panting before the Doctor turned and hugged Mac tightly, that was far too close.

~8~

It had been quite funny, according to Mac, to watch from a distance as Val subtly implied that the Doctor and Craig were a couple. She'd seen the little looks the woman gave him and Craig all during that time and hadn't said or done anything to dissuade her from thinking that as the faces the two men had made were hysterical…and it also led the Doctor to want to prove just who he was with by whisking her away, back to the TARDIS for a rather lovely snog though he completely insisted the box was NOT a snogbox when she'd jokingly called it that after he'd gotten control of himself and decided to make it up to Craig for all the trouble by cleaning the man's house.

They'd just stepped through the fixed back door, the Doctor having broken the glass door in an effort to save Craig from the Cybermat, to see Craig and Alfie, the boy resting in a papoose, looking around at the pristine house, "See, I do come back," the Doctor laughed, winking.

"How did you..." Craig blinked at them.

"The TARDIS IS a time machine Craig," Mac reminded him.

"But even with time travel, getting glaziers on a Sunday, tricky," the Doctor smiled.

Craig just let out a little breath, "You went back in time? That means you used up your hours. What about Exedor?"

"What about you being in trouble with Sophie when she comes back? We couldn't let that happen."

"You used up your time for me?"

"We caused all this Craig," Mac reached out to touch his arm, "It was the least we could do for all the danger."

"We've noticed Stormageddon's very quiet and happy," the Doctor tickled Alfie's chin, "He prefers the name Alfie now. And he's very proud of his dad."

"He calls me dad?" Craig smiled.

"Yes, of course he does now! Yeah, I know, he's a bit thick, isn't he?"

"Shut up, you two!" Craig laughed.

"But it really is time for us to go," Mac reminded them, gently taking the Doctor's hand.

"Look," Craig sighed, looking at them, "I know that something's wrong, I can help you."

"I've got it all under control Craig," Mac winked.

The Doctor glanced over at a handful of TARDIS blue envelopes and picked them up, "I hope Sophie won't mind, I need these."

"Speaking of Sophie, she'll be home any second, are you sure?" Craig frowned.

"We are," Mac nodded, "We've got an awful lot still to do."

"Wait there. One second," he turned and ran out of the room, rushing back a moment later with a Stetson that made Mac's hearts stop, "From Sean's stag," he put it on the Doctor's head, "You ride 'em, pardner."

"Thanks," the Doctor chuckled, pointing at Craig before he wound his arm around Mac's waist, leading her out the back door as the doorbell rang.

"We still have time," Mac murmured as they reached the TARDIS, a few feet away from where a few children were playing.

"Well then," he wound his other arm around her, "One last trip, eh?" he looked over her shoulder at the children as they started to stare at them, "Hey. I'm the Doctor and this is Kenzie," he introduced, "We were here to help. And you are very, very welcome," he gave them a wink as Mac unlocked the door and they got in, determined to change the future.

A/N: School kills :( Blah, I had to spend most of yesterday and this morning writing my last paper that my professor, due to the majority of the class voting for it, bumped up the due date to today instead of next week :( -sigh- But I have my last class tonight until finals in 2 weeks so I'm SO excited to have more time to put towards editing :) I think I'll finally be back at posting at the normal times after tonight ^-^ I feel so off not having been able to post at the right time the last few days :(

Even though I love Craig this wasn't one o my favorite episodes :/

Some notes on reviews...

I wasn't winking at Hitler or Churchill but more the chapters following the episodes :)

I can't say about a pet but probably not just because Keta had a kitten ;)


	16. The Sacrifice of River Song

A/N: Quick note, this won't play out exactly like the episode, in terms of flashing back to the events but follow the sequence of them ;)

~8~

The Sacrifice of River Song

Mac winced as a small explosion went off to her side, the ship they'd managed to crash hadn't been easy to take down and they'd gone a bit over board in trying to make it so. Every enemy they'd passed so far had been utterly destroyed or buried, too far away and too far gone for them to get any useful information out of them. They'd made their rounds to every single enemy that had been there during the Pandorica event, thinking the same thing, that they couldn't have come up with something like that on their own and agreed upon it, they were all still enemies. No…someone had to have approached them with a plan already in mind for them to sit down and agree to use the box. This was the last enemy on their list, the most deadly. They'd just come from the Cybermen, Sontarans before them, all in order of deadliness, and took from them every bit of record or knowledge they had about what was happening.

They entered a room at the end and slowed, seeing one of the enemies twitching, still alive, and made their way in, "Imagine you were dying," the Doctor began, "Imagine you were afraid and a long way from home and in terrible pain. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, you looked up... and saw the face of the devil himself," he sighed, looking at their enemy, at their mercy, "Hello, Dalek."

"Emergency, emergency, weapon system disabled, emergency!" the Dalek cried, starting to twitch more, waving its arms around, "Emergency! Emergency!"

"Bit useless to do that," Mac warned him, "Your ship's crashed, the rest are gone. It's just you and us and there's just one thing we need from you."

The Doctor pulled out the sonic, pulling the top of the Dalek's casing off and flashed around, "We need some information from your data core. Everything the Daleks know about the Silence!"

~8~

The Dalek had led to the man that had been tasked to meet with them and the other enemies regarding the Pandorica, a Gideon Vandaleur, who was, if their other sources were correct, was on Calisto B. And there they found him, on the docks, heading for a bar, which they quickly followed him into.

Mac walked right to the bartender, an all red alien standing behind a grate, "I wish to speak to Gideon Vandaleur," she stated promptly, "Now."

"Yeah?" the man scoffed, "And who says he's here?"

"I believe my friend did," she dropped the Dalek's laser arm on the small counter before the man, "Do you think it's still functional?" she asked, "Would you like to find out?"

The man scurried off as the Doctor stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, "Calm down dear," he murmured in her ear.

She let out a breath, "Sorry," she whispered, "I just…I want this to be over, I want us to stop running, I just…" she looked at him, turning her head to see him resting his chin on her shoulder, "I want to be able to be with you without worrying about the Silence looming behind us."

He smiled and leaned in, kissing her gently. He was…worried, more so about her than himself. This entire time, all the years dedicated to trying to work out what to do about the Silence and his supposed death date…it was becoming a bit of an obsession with her and he was starting to fret about her. She was so focused on that the last few decades that it was starting to consume her. She didn't want to visit their friends, she didn't want to leave the TARDIS for a picnic, she didn't want to do anything unless it was to try and find out how to save him from it all.

There was one thing, one fail safe that she kept bringing up whenever they hit a roadblock, something he kept and would always refuse to all her to even consider doing. Giving him some of her remaining regenerations. The fact that he regenerated or appeared to be about to on the beach worried him terribly, because it should be impossible…yet it had happened or started to according to her. That meant only one thing as far as he could tell and he didn't want to see that happen. He'd wasted his own regenerations, carelessly at times, and he was NOT going to let her suffer for his mistakes. He…he wanted her to have a long life after he was gone even though he knew it would hurt.

It was…it was one reason he'd held off a bit in terms of really going at her with wooing her, with convincing her that them becoming Chosens wasn't a mistake. If he knew, if he knew he had more centuries with her, if he knew he was safe and going to survive past the lake…he'd flirt with her till her head spun. But he'd been living with the knowledge that his death date was looming and each attempt by her to work out a plan or find more information to help him survive it just reminded him that his time was running out. He wanted to know that his efforts wouldn't be wasted, that he wouldn't be hurting her by dying too soon. He was trying to keep just a little bit of distance between them for her sake, though it killed him to do so, he just…IF they couldn't work out a way to save him, he wanted it to hurt less for her.

"Come on," he took her hand and led her over to a table to wait, which actually didn't take all that long when a man in a dark cloak sat before them, tugging down his hood to reveal pale skin, blonde hair, and an eye patch that was FAR too much like Kovarian's for them to feel comfortable staring at them, "Father Gideon Vandaleur," the Doctor greeted, "Former envoy of the Silence. Our condolences."

"Your what?" the man tilted his head.

"Gideon Vandaleur has been dead for six months," the Doctor said and Mac leapt forward, sticking a device to the man's chest with a small metallic thunk.

"Took a bit of a leaf out of the Church's book," Mac told him, thinking of the small magnetized locks that Octavian had stuck to the doors of the Byzantium to lock them, the Teselecta was a robot afterall.

The Doctor leaned in and peered into the frozen man's eyes, "Can we speak to the Captain, please?" he called, seeing a small man standing in the eye before it ran off. He leaned back when the pupil flickered, "Hello again! The Teselecta, time-travelling shape-changing robot, powered by miniaturized people. Never get bored of that! Long time since Berlin."

"What have you done to our systems?" the captain shouted.

"They're just frozen," Mac waved him off, "Just an overpowered magnet, you tell us what we want to know and we take the magnet off."

"This unit can disguise itself as anyone in the universe so if you're posing as Vandaleur, you're investigating the Silence..." the Doctor reasoned, "Tell me about them."

"Tell you what?" the captain asked.

"One thing. Just one. Their weakest link."

"Or," Mac spoke as the robot remained silent, "You can sit here and we'll forcibly extract ALL the data in your core through the TARDIS and we'll have access to ALL the information you're trying to hide."

The captain sighed.

~8~

Gantok, the weakest link of the silence, not in deadliness, not in ruthlessness…but in pride and gambling. The alien, which reminded Mac of a Viking of sorts, was quite the gambler, took bets even when he knew he couldn't win and often found himself in trouble for it. It had been all too easy to trick the alien into a game of chess, live chess actually which lived up to its name. The chessboard was rigged with live wires, the more moves one made the more energized a single piece was. Each time someone touched it, it electrocuted them, first in small doses but as the moves grew in number, the more voltage was added.

Mac had known the Doctor would win though, and he had. He'd tricked Gantok into a corner, forcing the Queen to be the man's only legal move left and with 4 million volts in it, the next move would have killed him…unless the Doctor threw the game. Which he had, in exchange for information about the Silence. It was why they were now walking through catacombs, heading for the Seventh Transcept, where the Headless Monks kept their 'leftovers' and was the final resting place for the head of Dorium Maldovar…

"The Seventh Transept," Gantok led the way, his torch flickering along the walls, making the skulls that were littered everywhere even more eerie than they already were, "Where the Headless Monks keep the leftovers. Watch your step, there are traps everywhere."

"Eww," the Doctor grimaced as something scurried past them, "I hate rats."

"There are no rats in the transept."

"Oh, good."

"Why not?" Mac frowned though she was sure she knew the answer.

"The skulls eat them."

And there it was. She frowned, looking around at the skulls, only to turn her head and gasp, jumping back more into the Doctor's arms when she caught sight of a giant spider's web with a spider walking along the threads. She could feel the Doctor's hand on her back in reassurance as he tugged her closer and led her around it, she hated spiders…was actually more than a bit afraid of them really. Spiders, Daleks, and the Doctor dying, the only three things in the Universe that scared her.

Gantok pushed a door open and let them into a small room with some pedestals set up around it, wooden boxes resting on top of them, "Why are some of them in boxes?" the Doctor asked, guessing what was in the boxes.

"Because some people are rich and some people are left to rot. Dorium Maldovar was always very rich," he turned and put his torch in a sconce as Mac and the Doctor carefully stepped forward, examining one of the boxes before opening it to see Dorium's head there.

"Thank you for bringing us, Gantok," the Doctor called as the head gave a small cough in sleep.

"My pleasure," the alien grunted, before pulling out a gun and aiming it at them, the Doctor quickly pulling Mac behind him, "It saves me the trouble of burying you. Nobody beats me at chess!"

Mac quickly grabbed one of the skulls on the ground and threw it at the floor just before Gantok, triggering one of the traps he'd warned them about, one of the traps that the sonic had picked up, and opened a hole in the floor that Gantok fell through. They rushed over, looking down to see he'd landed on a pile of skulls that started to attack him. The Doctor winced and pulled back, quickly sonicing the floor to close up once more, the slamming of the trap closing waking Dorium from his slumber.

"Hello?' Dorium called, pulling their attention back to him, "Is someone there?" he looked up as they stepped out of the shadows and into his view, "Ah, Doctor! Agent Mackenzie! Thank God it's you. The Monks, they turned on me!"

"We know," Mac nodded, "We were there."

"Give it to me straight! How bad are my injuries?"

The Doctor blinked, glancing from Mac to Dorium, not quite sure how to put it, "Well..."

But Dorium just started to laugh, "Oh, your face! Oh, it's not so bad really, as long as they get your box the right way up. I got a media-chip fitted in my head years ago, and the wi-fi down here is excellent. So I keep myself entertained."

"Listen, Dorium," Mac cut in, "You're friends with the Headless Monks, yes?"

"I would use the term 'friend' loosely given the circumstances," he huffed.

"Right, well…did they ever bring up 'the Silence?'"

"Oh yes," he seemed to try to nod his head, "A religious order of great power and discretion. The sentinels of history, as they like to call themselves."

"And they want me dead," the Doctor finished.

"No, not really. They just don't want you to remain alive."

"Oh that's ok," the Doctor rolled his eyes, "I was worried for a minute there."

"Dorium," Mac gave him a look, "WHY?"

"He's a man with a long and dangerous past," Dorium sighed, "But your future is infinitely more terrifying. The Silence believe it must be averted."

"Just his future?" Mac frowned, not sure why they were JUST targeting the Doctor, if it was anything to do with Time Lords, wouldn't she be a target as well?

"You haven't caused as much damage my dear," Dorium chuckled, "Your life, until the Doctor whisked you away was either Gallifrey or UNIT, they assume it would return to UNIT upon the Doctor's demise."

"They really don't think I'd avenge him?" Mac eyed him.

"They think the Doctor wouldn't want you to, and that you care about him enough to follow his last wishes," Dorium challenged, Mac falling silent at that.

The Doctor had to smile at that for two reasons, the first was the relief in knowing that Mac would be safe, that the Silence didn't blame her for whatever it was that he was going to do in the future that would set them on him. It was relief to know that she'd go back to UNIT and that she'd not be a target. It pained him slightly to know she'd been in such danger because of him in the first place, that if he'd just left her in UNIT none of this would have happened…but it made him happy as well because…it also meant that she did care about him enough to respect his last wishes. That she might even love him that much to do as he wished in his last moments. He wouldn't want her in danger, he wouldn't want her to become a target just because she wanted to 'avenge him' and that wasn't his style either. He just…he wanted her to stay safe.

"You know you could've told me all this, the last time we met," the Doctor looked at the head once more.

"It was a busy day and I got beheaded," Dorium rolled his eyes.

"What could possibly be so dangerous about the Doctor's future that it's worse than his past?" THAT was what was bothering Mac the most. Given some of the things he'd done in the past, it was hard to imagine him doing anything worse than some of those events.

"On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the Eleventh, when no living creature could speak falsely, or fail to answer…a question will be asked," Dorium recited, "A question that must never, ever be answered."

"Silence will fall when the question is asked…" he breathed.

"Silence MUST fall would be a better translation," Dorium remarked, "The Silence are determined the question will never be answered. That the Doctor will NEVER reach Trenzalore."

"I don't understand," the Doctor shook his head, "What's it got to do with me?"

"The first question. The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight. Would you like to know what it is?"

The Doctor looked at Mac and they both nodded, "Are you sure? Very, very sure?"

"Dorium," Mac gave him a look.

"Then I shall tell you. But on your own head be it," Dorium laughed, wiggling his head as though he wanted them to lean in.

Mac frowned when she pulled away, "But…I could just as easily answer that question."

"But it must come from the Doctor's own mouth you see," Dorium told them grimly, "His words and his voice and his answer alone."

Mac and the Doctor exchanged another look, more serious and solemn than ever.

~8~

The Doctor chuckled as Mac half tossed Dorium's box onto the jump seat in their rush to enter the TARDIS and get the box into the Vortex.

"It's not my fault!" Dorium huffed, his voice muffled from inside the box, "Put me back. I've fallen on my nose," Mac and the Doctor ignored him as they looked at the monitor, at the information extracted from the Teselecta the first time, his death date and time, "Have you got wi-fi here? I'm bored already and my nose is hurting! We all have to die, Doctor... But you more than most. You do see that, don't you? You know what the question is now, you do see that you have to die!" Mac didn't spare a glance at the box as Dorium continued to grumble, just winding her arm around the Doctor, looking at that date blinking away at them, "Please open my hatch, I've got an awful headache...which to be honest means more than it used to."

"Oh my god Dorium," Mac spun around and opened the hatch, "Do you never shut up?" she huffed looking at the head…upside down and quickly righted it.

"Why Lake Silencio?" the Doctor shook his head, "Why Utah?"

"It's a still point in time," he stated, "Makes it easier to create a fixed point. And your death is a fixed point, Doctor."

"Why though?" Mac agreed, "Why that day, why that time? Why is it FIXED?"

"Been running all my life," the Doctor nodded, "Why should I stop?"

"You can't run away from this," Dorium told him solemnly, "Because now you know what's at stake. Why your life ends."

"Not today," he shook his head, taking Mac's hand, "Not ever," he moved to the phone on the console, "I'm not leaving Kenzie ever again," he muttered, dialing a number in.

"What's the point in delaying? How long have you delayed already?"

"Been knocking about," he admitted, "Bit of a farewell tour. Things to do, people to see, there's always more."

"The last time he was supposed to die, we spent months travelling the Universe," Mac told Dorium, "Years avoiding the Ood call. Why should this be any different than everything we did then?"

"Yes," the Doctor snapped his fingers and pointed at Mac, "We could invent a new color, preferably one the precise shade of Kenzie's hair, or save the Dodo, it's got quite lovely plumage, or join the Beatles and I could sing a solo to Kenzie and…" he looked at the phone as someone picked up, "Hello, it's me. Get him! Tell him, we're going out and it's all on me, except for the money and driving."

"We have a time machine Dorium," Mac added, "We can take as long as we need to work out a plan for him to live."

"Time never stops for us," the Doctor smiled, "Liz the First is still chasing after me, trying to elope. We could help Rose Tyler with her homework, I could take Mac to all of Jack's stag parties in one night. Actually," he grimaced at the idea, "Best not go quite THAT far…"

"Time catches up with us all," Dorium remarked wisely.

"Well, it has never laid a glove on me! Hello?" he called that last part into the phone…and Mac watched as his smile slowly shrunk until it was little more than a deep frown.

She didn't have to read his mind to know what had happened. If he'd told her that he was calling the Brig she'd have told him herself what had happened. She'd been In UNIT before all of this had gone on, only a month before she'd arrived…Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart passed away. She thought that the Doctor had been informed, but now she realized…he hadn't a clue about it.

"Doctor?" Dorium frowned, "What's wrong?"

"Dorium," Mac shook her head, silently telling him not to say a word.

"Nothing," the Doctor swallowed hard, "Nothing. It's just..." he let out a breath and hung up the phone, looking at Mac, a sorrow in his eyes that told her they had to do this NOW. She was still a member of UNIT, and they had to do this while her coworkers and peers and the people who knew here were still there, unlike the Brig, they had to do this while Amy and Rory were still alive to see it done, "It's time. It's time."

~8~

Mac looked at the Doctor as he placed three envelopes on the bar before the Teselecta, still appearing like Gideon, "Surely you could deliver the messages yourself," the captain spoke to them though the robot.

"It would involve crossing my own time stream," the Doctor shook his head, "Best not."

The robot reached out and took the envelopes, looking up at them, "According to our files, this is the end for you. Your final journey. We'll deliver your messages. You can depend on us."

"Thank you," the Doctor smiled before he headed for the door.

"Doctor," it stood, "Whatever you think of the Teselecta, we are champions of law and order, just as you have always been. Is there nothing else we can do?"

The Doctor gave them a sad look, taking Mac's hand and stepping out the door with her. He looked up at the stars a moment before he swallowed hard and turned to her, "Ready?"

"I don't think I'll ever be," she murmured, squeezing his, hand, knowing what was coming next.

The Doctor took a single step forward, heading for the TARDIS…when he froze, his eyes wide as an idea hit him…

~8~

Mac quickly rushed through the halls of UNIT, nearly running into Agent Barclay in the process, "Barclay," she smiled, seeing the boy but realizing he likely had NO idea who she was, which was just as well, she needed to be just another agent walking around.

"Ma'am?" Barclay frowned, not sure who she was.

"Sorry, new here," she smiled, putting on an act, "Um, this came in just now and, I'm not quite sure who it's for, and um you were the only one whose name I remember…"

Barclay smiled, "How can I help?"

"Do you know a 'Kenzie?'" she asked, holding out the blue envelope to him.

"Um…" he frowned, "I know a Mackenzie…" he nodded, "Yeah it's probably for her."

"Could you see that she gets it, I've got no idea who she is or where to find her."

"Course," Barclay nodded and turned to see Nathan heading for them, "Oi mate," he called, making his way over to the other member of UNIT, Mac slipping around a corner and looking out, watching as Barclay handed the envelope over to him, not stepping back out till Nathan left, "Sent it off," Barclay smiled at her, "Nathan's heading that way anyway, passes her lab and all."

"Thank you so much," she smiled.

"So um…" Barclay began, "You um, maybe want to get a bite to eat together?"

She gave him a look, "You'd best ask Tina first," she smirked at his confused look and turned to head off, moving down one hall and headed into one of the labs, one of the testing labs, the radiation rooms. She looked at the controls, not really wanting to do this after seeing how it affected the Doctor but knowing she had to. She set the controls up to maximum, breaking the safety procedures on it, setting off a few alarms before she opened the doors and stepped in, waiting for the radiation to start…

She'd only just started to feel a small prickle as it built, nothing too dangerous just yet…

When a bright light filled the room…

~8~

Mac sighed as she sat beside the Doctor, on the edge of a small cot in the Orient Express as it journeyed through Egypt towards the pyramids…which had now become Area 52. She didn't understand how the Doctor managed to get into so much trouble all the time. She left him alone for one moment. All he had to do was either keep quiet as the astronaut fired at him…or reassure their daughter, if she'd been captured by Kovarian, that everything would be ok, to tell her in her mind that it would all work out, that they had a plan, and to fire at him.

In retrospect…if their daughter was being forced to try and kill her father she wouldn't exactly be in the calmest of mindsets to hear his mental words…nor would it be very believable to the Silence if River didn't do everything she could to save her father first. What had happened likely would have always happened but it was still a right old mess.

Time had broken down. River hadn't fired at the Doctor, he hadn't 'died' at the lake, and so time was literally falling apart before their very eyes. All of history was happening at once. Cars were floating attached to hot air balloons, the war of the Roses was going on, Churchill was Caesar, Silurians were walking about, Pterodactyls were flying everywhere, and it was just a mess. It was getting worse too. As earth was the epicenter it was hit the hardest, but it was slowly but surely spreading out. She'd been in the middle of UNIT, working on her own little 'farewell' when she'd been hit with a bright light and woken up to a new world where nothing made sense.

And because of how out of sorts everything was…it was quite easy for her to take over UNIT herself and get Amy and Rory and a few other companions together to help her go after the Doctor and track him down. Luckily Cleopatra had been a help. She'd had a meeting with Churchill and he'd mentioned a soothsayer in his possession that kept ranting about how time had gone wrong. She knew it had to be the Doctor as Cleo had related that Churchill claimed it was a 'madman in a bowtie' and she'd rushed off to get him…only to find him and Churchill in the middle of a Silence gathering.

She and her men had been quick to take care of that threat…and she'd not hesitated to knock the Doctor out while giving him a good old scare to see her with an eye patch like Kovarian's on.

Served him right for messing up time…even if their daughter was largely responsible for it…but still, River clearly got that from HIM so it was still his fault.

Now she was just sitting there, waiting for him to wake up, "Doctor?" she whispered when she saw him starting to blink awake, "You alright?"

He frowned, blinking a few more times before he looked up at her, "Kenzie?" he murmured.

She smiled, "Welcome back," she stroked his face a moment, "I'm not apologizing for stunning you," she warned.

"I'm used to it," he shrugged, taking her hand from his face and holding it, "You're always stunning," he winked at her, "I'm in a constant state of stunnedness."

"Stunnedness?" she laughed at the word.

He slowly sat up, "Amy and Rory?" he asked, knowing they were at the lake too, "River?"

She sighed, "They're all fine, my um…past self?" she wondered if that was the right thing to call her, "Seems to have been cancelled out with all of this going on," she gestured out the window, "I think my being here was a bit too much for the time lines. I don't know where she is, maybe frozen somewhere, but I'm the only one here."

It made sense, his past self, the one that had been in the diner would have been affected similarly, "Where are we going?" he glanced out the window.

"Cairo," she remarked, "Area 52 now. So you'd best get dressed…" she eyed his clothing, a rather roman style outfit, "What in the name of sanity are you wearing?"

He laughed and leaned in to kiss her, only for her to pull back with a laugh, "What?"

"Your beard tickles," she grimaced at his face, his hair had grown out, the beard he'd first started to grow in Area 51 now back and better than ever, "You look terrible."

"Well you look beautiful as always," he smiled.

Mac shook her head and got up, moving to a desk in the back of the small office cabin and picked up a hanger, "This might help," she held it up to him, a tweed jacket, bowtie, shirt, and trousers hanging there.

"Oh yes," he grinned, getting up to take the outfit, "Geronimo!"

~8~

Mac smiled when the Doctor had finished changing into his all too familiar outfit, his hair still long, but now clean shaven, "How do I look?" he asked, spinning in a circle.

"Rather dashing," she laughed, reaching out to straighten his bowtie, "Very cool."

He beamed at that, "Know what else is cool, this office," he looked around, "Why do you have an office?"

"New head of UNIT for now," she shrugged.

"And the eye patch?" he eyed the thing stuck to her face, "You know, I don't care for things that cover your lovely eyes."

She smiled, "It's not an eye patch," she told him, "It's an eye drive actually. It's like external storage for your memory, allows you to remember what you see, allows you to remember the Silence so you'll have to put one on when we get to Cairo. Amy, Rory, and River have them too," she added, "Seems like quite a few people realized that something's wrong with time. A whole team really."

"Winston as well," the Doctor agreed, "He finally started listening to me about it all."

"Amy's being hit a little harder though," Mac sighed, "Remember how she could remember her life without her parents and with her parents?" he nodded, "It's the same now. She keeps drawing and writing because she remembers the lake, she remembers you dying and she remembers you not dying, at the same time."

He sighed at that, feeling for Amy, "Two different versions of the same event, both happening in the same moment. Time split wide open. Now look at it," he glanced out the window.

"All of history, happening at the same time," she nodded, "All of history just…disintegrating before us," she looked at him, "It's already start to spread out past just the earth."

He ran a hand down his face, understanding what that meant, if they didn't hurry, time would just keep falling apart till it was all destroyed. And it was his fault, HE was the epicenter, he was what was wrong…

He was still alive.

~8~

Mac led the Doctor through the base of the Great Pyramid, now known as area 52, guiding him towards a containment room where there were scores of chambers set up in the walls, the Silence held within, suspended in some sort of fluid. The Doctor frowned as he eyed them, his eye drive on his face, trusting Mac with it as he observed the creatures.

"What are the tanks for?" he frowned.

"Insulation," Mac remarked, "They use electricity, stick them in water and they can't risk using it without electrocuting themselves."

He smiled, "I take it you thought of that?" he looked at her.

She nodded, "The simplest solution."

"The Silence," a familiar voice said behind them and they turned to see Rory there, an eye drive on, dressed in the same black uniforms as the other soldiers, "Ma'am," he saluted Mac as she nodded, before looking at the Doctor, "Sir," he saluted him as well, the Doctor giving him an odd look for only a moment before he realized Rory was not the same as Amy, he clearly didn't remember the lake…or him for that matter, and saluted him back, "We've captured over 100 of them now, all held in this Pyramid."

"Always wondered what they looked like," the Doctor eyed one of the Silence that they were standing before as it eyed him back.

"With these on," Mac tapped her eye drive, "You can remember it however long you wear it for."

"The Silence have human servants," the Doctor turned to her, "They all wear these."

"Where do you think we got the template?" Mac smirked, taking his hand to lead him on, "Captain Williams with us," she called and Rory followed after as she led them to the King's Chamber, what seemed to be the control room for the entire operation. There were various banks of computers and equipment set up around the room, a female doctor in a lab coat standing talking to a woman that the Doctor knew could only be River standing in the middle of the room.

"Agent Mackenzie was right," the woman was showing River printouts, "Just his presence in the building caused the loop to extend by nearly four chronons," she pointed at a digital clock on the wall that was reading 5:02:57 with the 7 oscillating between that and an 8.

"Hey there," he called out, getting River's attention, "I'm here."

River turned around, "You're late."

He laughed, "Everyone always said I'd be late to my own funeral, seems that's come true."

"Oh, why couldn't you just die?" a voice said behind River and she stepped to the side to reveal Kovarian tied to a chair.

"Oh shut up," Amy Pond called as she entered the room from the side, before gasping, "Doctor!" when she spotted him and running over to him, hugging him tightly.

"Amelia Pond," he grinned, returning the hug before he pulled away to look at Kovarian, "Did me best, dear. I showed up. You just can't get the psychopaths these days."

"It was such a basic mistake, wasn't it, Madame Kovarian?" River mused, "Trying to manipulate me into killing my own father?" she scoffed, "This isn't Star Wars or Wanted."

"It's not a movie," the Doctor agreed, "Which means there are no happy endings here River…reality is fatally compromised. Tell me you understand that."

"I do," River swallowed hard, "M-mum told me about it."

Mac blinked once, a force hitting her in the gut at the small stutter River had given. Her mind flashed back to the Library again, River, sitting on the chair…she'd stuttered the same. At first she thought it was just the emotions getting the best of her, that she'd stuttered M-Mac or something…what if…what if she'd been about to say 'mum' and caught herself in time to turn it to Mac? She was praying that wasn't the case, she didn't think she could handle that.

The Doctor reached out and took her hand, seeing where her thoughts had gone, "As long I'm alive, time is dying," he continued, "Because of you dear."

"Because I refused to kill my father?!"

"River I'm sorry, sweetheart," the Doctor took a step towards her, "But this HAS to happen," he reached out for her, but River jumped back.

"Get him!" Amy shouted to the guards as she realized what the Doctor was about to do.

The guards reached out and grabbed the Doctor, pulling him back and away from River as she stumbled back, tears in her eyes. Mac moved over to her daughter's side, knowing how hard this was for her. She'd explained it to her, that they had a plan, but the Silence and Kovarian were everywhere and…she couldn't tell her too much too soon or her reactions wouldn't be genuine to Kovarian, she'd be suspicious. She knew that this was tearing River apart, just thinking she had to kill her father, a far cry from how she'd been in Berlin. But she'd made up for it, she'd saved him…and now it was starting to seem like all her efforts were in vain.

"I'm not stupid father," River told him, "I know what happens if we touch. Time will start to move again…and I'll be by the lake…about to kill you."

The Doctor's hearts broke seeing her bottom lip quiver at the thought, seeing the pain in her eyes at the memory, Mac moving closer to put her arm around their daughter's shoulder, wanting so badly to be able to just hug her and comfort her himself…but if he was restrained, "I'm sorry," he whispered, "It's the only way. We're the opposite poles of the disruption. If we touch, we short out the differential, time can begin."

"But I'll have to kill you," River cried.

He nodded solemnly, "And time won't fall apart. Reality will continue."

"I'm sorry sweetie," Mac moved River's hair back, hugging her to her side, "But there isn't another way."

"I know," River swallowed hard, looking between her mother and father, "I just…I don't want to murder him."

"Doctor," Amy called, "Mac?" they turned to see her looking up, a drop of water on her palm as she stared at the ceiling…at the leaking ceiling, "What's that?"

"The Silence," Mac realized, "They've gotten out!"

"They were never trapped to begin with," Kovarian chuckled, "They've been waiting for this," she smirked at the Doctor, "For YOU."

Rory ran over from where he was monitoring the other soldiers, hearing reports of the Silence starting to attack the men, "They're out! All of them," he rushed over to help another soldier place a thick plank of wood across the large doors to the chamber, trying to lock it before he ran over to Mac and Amy, "Ma'am," he looked at Mac, "My men out there, should be able to lock this down we have them outnumbered."

"And you're wearing eye drives based on mine, I think," Kovarian laughed, "Oops!"

Mac rolled her eyes at the woman's smug look, "You REALLY think I wouldn't go over the schematics for the drives myself?" she asked the woman her eyes narrowing into a glare, "THIS was what I did in UNIT, I searched out all forms of alien tech and sabotage. If I could find the Sontaran tech hidden in the ATMOS, you really think I couldn't find YOUR tech hidden in the drives?" she moved over to Kovarian as the woman started to glare back, "I think, Madame Kovarian, that it's YOU who should be going 'oops' right now."

Kovarian had only a moment to frown, before she started screaming as a jolt went through her.

"For every eye drive they try to activate, it affects only YOU," she shook her head, "As though no one would guess that it was too easy to get your eye dive for our prototypes? I learned from Demons Run sweetie, when it's too easy, there's a reason. The Silence would never allow an advantage, without taking one themselves and I've run the tests, you're either going to feel agony or death. And I'm not going to let even the Doctor help you," her eyes narrowed as she leaned in, "You should NEVER have harmed my baby."

She shoved her way back from Kovarian, pulling out duct tape from her cardigan and slapped it across Kovarian's mouth to keep her screams quiet. She knew it was horrible, terrible, evil…but perhaps there was still a little bit of the Dalek she'd been in her to do this to the woman. But she'd taken her child, hurt her, twisted her, turned her into a psychopathic killer…and she was not going to let that pass.

"Come with me," she turned and took the Doctor's hand, noting that even HE was quiet to what she'd done to Kovarian, no matter what, no matter who he was or how he was, the Doctor was a father now, and that woman had tortured his daughter…not even he could chastise her or bring himself to stop her stopping Kovarian once and for all, "There's something you need to see."

The Doctor was silent, trusting Mac as she led him off. If she wanted him to see something, then it was important, perhaps even important to time itself as it fell apart.

"Amy, Rory?" Mac called back.

"We've got your back," Amy nodded, taking Rory's hand as they turned with the soldiers to keep the Silence back, under strict orders to come warn them if the Silence made it past the soldiers.

"Go," Rory agreed.

"This way," River turned and led her parents off.

~8~

The small Time Lord family stepped out onto the top of the Great Pyramid, it was already evening, and the Doctor caught sight of a large beacon set up in the middle of it all, "What's this? Oh, it's a timey-wimey distress beacon. Who built this?"

"Your daughter," Mac smiled at River.

River shrugged modestly, "It was simple physics."

The Doctor smiled at her as well knowing there was nothing simple about it, but then he sighed and shook his head, "I don't understand," he admitted, looking at Mac, not sure why she had allowed it to be built knowing there was nothing anyone could do about this, knowing she knew the truth of what was about to happen, "It's a distress beacon."

River looked at Mac who brushed their away from River's neck, "Tell him," she nodded.

River took a breath, "I've been sending out a message, more like one disguised as a distress call. Outside the bubble of our time, the universe is still turning, and I've sent a message everywhere, to the future and the past, the beginning and the end of everything. 'The Doctor is dying, please, please help.'"

"But that's ridiculous," he muttered, "That would mean nothing to anyone, it's insane."

"Not quite," Mac cut in gently as Amy and Rory joined them, the Ponds nodding to her that they'd barricaded the doors, "Go on sweetie," she whispered to River.

"People responded back," she told him, "The sky is full of a million, million voices, saying yes, of course we'll help. You've touched so many lives, dad," she added, seeing tears form in his eyes at her calling him dad, "Saved so many people. Did you think, when your time came, that no one would care?" she shook her head, "The universe doesn't agree."

"No one can help me," the Doctor argued, "A fixed point has been altered, time is disintegrating."

"I know," River said softly, "That wasn't the point of the beacon, I wasn't really meaning to ask for help."

"Then what?" he shook his head.

"I just…" River sniffled, trying to be strong, "I didn't want you to die without knowing just how loved you are by so many, and so much. And by no one more than mum and me."

The Doctor's expression softened at that, "I DO know," stepped closer to her, "I always knew. And you know," he smiled at her, "Your love and your mum's are the only love I really need. Look at you," he shook his head gently, "So strong and clever and beautiful, just like your mum."

Mac closed her eyes at that, hearing an echo of words he'd said to the other River at the Lake centuries ago, he'd been talking and speaking to their daughter in that instant, not River Song, not Melody Pond, or any other alias she might come to have, but Merina, their daughter.

And he was proud of her.

"I don't want to do this," River whispered, tears now spilling from her eyes.

"I know," the Doctor murmured, "But it has to be done."

"Love," Mac began, squeezing River to her side, "Love means sacrifice sweetie. And sometimes it means suffering for it. But in the end," she glanced at the Doctor, "It all works out."

The Doctor looked at his daughter, "I'm sorry you have to do this, and I'm sorry because you know what this will mean for you afterwards…but it has to be done."

River sniffled, nodding, she would be sacrificing not just her father's life, but her mother's and her own as well. Her mother had told her, in front of Kovarian, that she'd been in UNIT, that she'd been about to flood a room full of so much radiation that it would literally melt her down, much like she'd read reports that Stet Radiation could do. Her father was going to be shot, no regeneration. Her mother was essentially going to end her own life. And she would be alone, locked away in a prison for the murder of her father.

But if she didn't…every single life in the Universe would die.

"It'll be alright," the Doctor stepped forward, holding out his arms to her.

Mac hugged her first though, whispering in River's ear and pulling away to touch the girl's cheek as River stared at her with wide eyes before her gaze flashed to her father.

River stepped closer, staring at him intently, looking him in the eyes, before she threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly as a bright light began to fill the room as time resumed, the Doctor sending Mac a wink over River's shoulder.

River clung to her father as tightly as she could, seeing herself back on the lake, seeing herself firing at him, and knowing that she'd be caught, that she'd be sentenced to life in Stormcage, that she'd be trapped and locked away…

But she would sacrifice her freedom if it meant her parents could live.

~8~

The Doctor stood on the lakeside, his arms wide as what seemed like regeneration energy poured off him, falling back with a smile as River fired her last round.

~8~

Mac held her breath, feeling the tingling of the radiation starting to increase and grinned, feeling a soft breeze waft around her, the console room starting to appear in her vision as an invisible and silent force whisked her away just in time…

~8~

A hooded figure carried the box of Dorium Maldovar's head back to the Seventh Transcept, a second figure, equally cloaked, behind the first holding a torch aloft for light as it was placed back on the pedestal it had rested on, "Who's carrying me?" Dorium's voice called, muffled by the box, "I demand to know...I'm a head, I have rights! I want my doors open this time! I demand that my doors are open," the torch was lowered so that the first figure could see the latch and opened the box, the two figures starting to move away, "Is it you?! It is, isn't it?" they stopped and slowly turned, "It IS you, I can sense it. But how did you do it? How could you possibly have escaped?!"

The first figure dropped the cloak to reveal the Doctor, alive and well, taking the torch from the second so Mac could shake off her own cloak too, the two Time Lords grinning at each other.

"Gave our daughter a little hint," Mac shrugged, thinking of how she'd whispered 'look at his eyes,' to River when she'd hugged her, "She's clever, she worked it out."

The Doctor nodded, he'd seen her, seen River through the eye of the Teselecta that he'd borrowed off of the captain for the moment. She'd seen him waving at her through the eye and knew it was a robot that she was shooting, NOT him. It hurt his hearts to know his little girl was locked away in prison for a murder she truly didn't commit, but it was a relief to know that she'd be safe so long as she played the part of prisoner and didn't let on that he was alive. He looked at Mac and took her hand, knowing that she'd had to tell River about the radiation room before Kovarian so that she'd not be curious as to where she might disappear to.

If the Silence came to UNIT and saw Mac wasn't there, they feared they'd grow suspicious that she was off time travelling and might look for her and then find him too. It was mostly the truth, she HAD gone to the radiation room, but he'd swooped in with the TARDIS and saved her just in time. To others it looked like the radiation had gotten to her, but he knew he'd just saved her life.

"The Teselecta," the Doctor beamed, "A Doctor in a Doctor-Suit. Time said I had to be on that beach so I dressed for the occasion barely got singed in that boat."

"So you're going to do this, let them all think you're dead?" Dorium frowned, glancing at Mac as well, "The both of you?"

Mac sighed, "That's the way it has to be," she nodded, "The Silence can't know we survived."

"They can all forget us," the Doctor agreed, "About me especially. I got too big, Dorium, too noisy...time to step back into the shadows."

"And your daughter?" Dorium eyed them, "In prison all her days?"

"We do have an invisible time machine," Mac reminded him, "We can pick her up any time she wants and go on adventures however long she wants and have her back within seconds of leaving" she laughed a bit, "She might just end up using that cell as a place to sleep in the end."

"So many secrets," Dorium sighed, "I'll help you keep them, of course."

"Well, you're not exactly going anywhere, are you?" the Doctor smirked.

"But you're a fool nonetheless. It's all still waiting for you... the fields of Trenzalore, the fall of the Eleventh. And the question!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and gave the head a small salute, "Goodbye, Dorium," before he took Mac's hand and turned to lead her away, down the tunnel, back to where the TARDIS was parked.

But Dorium was relentless, shouting after them, his voice echoing down the tunnels after them, "The first question! The question that must never be answered, hidden in plain sight. The question you've been running from all your life. Doctor who? Doctor who? Doc... tor... WHO?!"

A/N: Everybody lives...except Kovarian :) Woo :) And...I'm very pleased to say that the next chapter will be up at the normal time and will stay that way from here on out now that my classes are over ^-^ Woo! I'm SO happy about that :D My brother surprised my mother with a puppy yesterday so it was a bit hectic with the little puggle :) And then vet visits and getting food and carrying cases and all today lol :) He's adorable :)

Also, I've put a poll up on my profile for a potential AU for the HOTS. If enough people are interested I'll be adding it to my list of AUs to come for Angel :) The premise is...what if...the Master survived TEOT and was there for Series 5 and 6 (and beyond) when the Doctor forgot Angel? ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Mac was in UNIT, faking her own death ;) If she suddenly disappeared for the organization, Kovarian and the Silence might get suspicious that she's with the Doctor ;)

The story will actually be over on Monday ;) We've got First/Last night, and the Christmas special split in 2 so 3 more chapters after this ;) But yup, the story will be over before May is lol :) And then we just have 1 month until the next TL ;)

The Time Ladies definitely have trouble with the babies at times lol :) Oh Mac will not have a pleasant time during the Snowmen because of all the values ;)

Mac survived :) She wasn't there as she was faking her own death on the sidelines ;)

I think that it would be a toss up between Angel and Proffy's Doctor for who's darker, Angel because he gets very very dark when it comes to protecting her, but Proffy also because they sort of fuel each other's actions towards others :) I've actually found it rather easy to write all the different TLs with their personalities :) The history and short comings I've set for them, their relationships with the Doctor make it pretty easy for me to separate them and make them different. Like...I could write 1 sentence and, just from how the OC says it or what they're doing while saying it, I know exactly which OC it would be they're that different :)

Quite a few people sigh yup ;) I'm definitely very excited for Series 7 too :)


	17. First & Last Night

First & Last Night

The first thing the Time Lords did after Silencio and the whole mess with the Silence and Kovarian, was to visit their daughter in prison, on her first night, not wanting her to be alone and really and truly wanting her to know that they were both ok and still alive. And Mac knew the Doctor was dying to hug his daughter in a way that wouldn't force her to experience his death all over again.

They'd just set the box down in her prison stall, on invisible, when the doors flew open and River raced in, "Mum!" she cried, rushing to the, "Dad!" and hugged them both tightly, breathing a sigh of relief when she felt them and felt how real they were, how they were standing there with her, whole, solid, and alive.

Mac smiled over River's shoulder at that, she understood now why River called the Doctor sweetie, it was what SHE called everyone, River got that from her. It was why River called her Mackenzie before as well, much like the Doctor's last self had called her by her full name. There were bits of both her and the Doctor in her but it warmed her hearts so much that River now knew she could call them mum and dad…though it did remind them both that they'd have to warn her about the times she'd meet them when they didn't know who she was. They knew it would likely hurt for her to hear that. In her timeline, they'd always known they were her parents up to this point, but beyond it…still, their girl was strong and they were sure that the Rivers they met in the future would be teasing them for not working it out earlier.

"You're ok," River breathed as she pulled away, looking at her parents, "And…dressed for a party?" she eyed them. The Doctor was wearing his black suit while Mac had on a similar style outfit as she tended to wear, a strapless black gown with a silver embroidered hem at her knees, a silver shawl over her arms to complete the image, her hair still in its customary headband.

"You as well," the Doctor gestured back at a small selection of dresses he'd picked out, which River blanched at, seeing they were all floor length, long sleeved, high necked monstrosities.

"What, am I playing the part of your grandmother now?" she raised an eyebrow at them.

"I told them they wouldn't suit you," Mac reassured her daughter.

"Oi!" the Doctor pouted, "I won't have my daughter walking around in…in…in some sort of scandalous dress."

"Oh Daddy dear," River smirked, "Be grateful you weren't there for my prom."

The Doctor groaned, just imagining the sort of dress Amy had talked his daughter into getting for the occasion.

"Where are we going anyway?" River glanced at them.

"Just a…little trip," Mac stepped closer to her, putting an arm around her, "How are things? Is Stormcage alright?"

River smiled at her mother's concern, "I'm on the first night of 12,000 consecutive life sentences, kind of early to say. Where are we going?"

The Doctor chuckled, seeing a bit of his impatience in her, "Calderon Beta. Boring planet of the chip shops, but…there is a 400 foot tree growing out of a cliff top on the north side of a mountain in the middle of the sea. And, if you take the lift to the top and look up at exactly 12 minutes past midnight on the 21st of September 2360, you can see more stars in one sky than at any other moment in the history of the Universe."

"It's just stunning," Mac remarked, thinking of it, "The Doctor took me there for my 1000th birthday."

"So we might run into you?" River beamed at that, at the thought of meeting her parents' slightly younger selves.

"No," the Doctor shook his head, "It's a fairly large tree and we know where we went, we can avoid the past us."

"And…speaking of running into past versions of us," Mac glanced at the Doctor before looking at River seriously, "You still have the diary we left you?"

"Of course," River nodded, holding it up, "I never go anywhere without it."

"Good, good," the Doctor smiled, touched she liked their gift, "Very good, because Merina from now on, there are rules…"

"Oh I knew that was bound to happen after growing up with Amy," River sighed, "You're going all strict."

"We ARE your parents," Mac reminded her, "It's our job."

"Dear," the Doctor put his arm over River's shoulders, "The three of us…it's a mess," he warned, "It's all in the wrong order, we never meet in sequence. You need to put everything in the diary so we know where we are, so that YOU know where we are when we meet."

"We…" Mac began, hesitating before pushing on, "There may be times, sweetie, where we won't know you're our daughter," River frowned at her for that, "The past versions of us, anyone from before you were taken in Demons Run…they don't know who you are, and you can't tell them. That bracelet," she nodded to the one River was still wearing, the one the Silence had taken from UNIT and given to her to block out others sensing her as a Time Lord, "You need to wear it at all times, especially when you see a past us."

"And you NEED to put it in the diary," the Doctor stressed, "Keep track, make notes, anything to keep it straight in your head where you are and where we are in relation to you."

"Why would I need to put it in the diary?" River shook her head, "I'm in the highest security prison in all of the known Universe."

The Doctor just smirked, "Between the two of us," he gestured between him and Mac, "I think our daughter would work out how to get in and out like the walls aren't there."

River smiled at that, "Challenge accepted."

Mac laughed, "There are other gowns in the wardrobe," she nudged her towards the small stairs that led to the halls, "First right, second left, a little past the helter-skelter."

The Doctor pouted as River dashed off, "Why did you have to tell her there were other gowns?"

"Because dear, like it or not, our daughter is a grown woman," Mac sighed, "She can dress herself…and I'd rather her in a gown of her own choosing than have the bowtie forced upon her."

"Oi," he mock-huffed, "She thought it was cool as a baby!"

"And she's not a baby anymore, or shall I remind you of your fez?"

He rolled his eyes, about to counter that when the sound of gunfire rang out past the doors and he was immediately off, hurrying to them, hearing someone trying to get in, to escape the fire. He gasped as River, another River, an older River, practically fell into the box, "Merina!" he gasped as he kicked the doors shut, Mac rushing over to help him.

"I knew you'd come back here," River panted, "You're too nostalgic for your own good dad," before she promptly passed out.

"Merina!" Mac helped him lower River to the floor, "Merina, wake up," she started to check her, the Doctor sonicing her to ensure she was alright, "Doctor?" she looked at him, her eyes wide, "She's not breathing…"

"Because she's holding her breath dear," the Doctor reached out to take Mac's hand, stilling her as she started to fret quite a bit over their daughter, nearly seeming on the verge of a panic attack, "NOT a nice thing to do to your mother Merina."

River cracked an eye open, seeing the tears in her mother's eyes, "Sorry mum," she murmured, instantly feeling back about the small joke she'd tried to pull.

Mac just pulled her to sit up and hugged her tightly, "Don't ever do that to me again," she warned her daughter.

"Or what?" River squeezed her back, "You'll ground me?"

"And spank you," Mac nodded, making River laugh a bit.

"What happened?" the Doctor asked as he helped his two girls up, "Who's shooting at you?"

"Oh just a few Sontarans," River shrugged, brushing off the skirt of her dress, the same one she'd worn in America and Demons Run, "Chased me halfway across the galaxy. I probably shouldn't have asked them if they were on a hen night."

"You are your mother's daughter you know," the Doctor huffed, hugging her tightly as well.

"And your father's daughter," Mac laughed, "That was rude to say."

River blinked, spotting the dresses hanging up, "Hold on…have you brought someone else here?" she looked at her parents, "Who is it?" she started to head off, more curious than angry about another person being there. She had dropped in on her parents, who was to say they didn't have a new companion with them, or Amy and Rory wandering about.

"Consider the dresses," Mac called, "Seem familiar?"

"Very," River remarked, "And I remember that time too, you brought someone else!"

"We didn't," the Doctor defended.

"Yes you did! I heard you talking to her!"

"It's the same night!" the Doctor tried to tell her as she disappeared down the stairs beneath the console.

"Dad?" the Younger River called, stepping back in from the halls, "Were you talking to someone?"

"Just your mum," he pointed at Mac quickly, earning a look from River before she headed back into the halls.

"Were you talking to someone mum?" the older River stepped up from under the console, looking at them.

Mac smiled, "Just your dad," she mimicked the Doctor and River gave her a look before returning below.

The two Time Lords spun around when the doors opened and another River, the oldest of the three, though she still looked youthful, entered, actually wearing one of the 'granny dresses,' "You two really need new tricks," the third River shook her head at them, "Nostalgia tour agai…" she trailed off, spotting the mess of dresses, "Why have you brought more of those horrible dresses?" she looked at them, "You agreed, I wear one and I get a sonic of my own…is someone else here?"

"Sweetie, could you check the bulb?" Mac asked, feeling the Doctor stiffen at the mention of a sonic, seeing that this River looked nearly identical to the one they'd see in the Library, "I meant to check if it needed changing before…"

"Alright," River said slowly, stepping back out of the TARDIS.

"Who are you talking to?!" the middle River demanded as she made her way up to the console.

"You," the Doctor swallowed hard, turning around to look at his daughter, "We were just talking to you, escaping's all well and good, but only on supervised trips."

"I don't need a chaperone dad," River rolled her eyes, "And YOU were the ones who told me to work out how to get in and out of Stormcage."

"Well it's time to head back there," he reached out and took her wrist where she was wearing a Vortex Manipulator and soniced it.

"Can't I have a lift back?" River pouted, "You know what this thing does to my hair!"

"You shouldn't have broken out in the first place without telling us," Mac remarked, "Consider this your punishment."

River huffed and the manipulator activated, sending her back to her cell, to her room. Ah, the power of the parent, grounding, marvelous invention.

"The bulb's just fine," the eldest River called as she entered, "I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Sweetie hold on," they heard Mac call only for their eyes to widen as Mac entered the TARDIS, the two current Time Lords staring at her in shock, the Doctor moving closer to his Mac, winding an arm around her as they stared at the older her, "Ooh," the older Mac winced, "Sorry…she's always running off…"

"Gets it from me," the Doctor called, entering in his black suit and top hat, "Wrong TARDIS, dear," he put an arm around River's shoulders, "We're parked around back…" he glanced over and spotted the two Time Lords, "Younger versions," he greeted with a nod, Mac giving a small salute to her younger self as well.

"Two of you!" River breathed, staring at the younger versions and older versions of her parents, "The mind races, does it not?"

"We should go," the older Mac tugged on River's arm, "Or we'll be later than we are."

"They're taking me to the Singing Towers of Darillium!" River smiled back at them as she headed for the door, "They've been promising for ages!"

The Doctor and Mac's faces fell as River disappeared out the doors, the Doctor looking at his older self, "The first time we met her at the Library, when she…"

"Died," the older Mac swallowed.

"She said the last time she saw us was at Darillium…is that now?"

"Spoilers," the older Doctor gave them a sad look, "Good luck tonight."

"Good luck to you too," Mac whispered, watching as the older Doctor wound his arm around her older self and led her out, noticing how her older self seemed to lean on him more, was closer t him.

"Oh!" they heard a River gasp behind them and turned to see it was THEIR River that had rejoined them, "There's two of you! The mind races!"

The Doctor smiled at her, "Well, come on you, let's go and see the stars!"

"But I haven't changed!" River held up the small pile of clothes that she had in her hands, she'd grabbed a few different dresses and had brought them with her to show her parents, wanting a bit of the Doctor's approval. Maybe if she picked one he liked, he'd let her use ins sonic. She'd tried to make one on her own once…it hadn't worked out very well and she desperately wanted one of her own.

"You know," Mac reached out and brushed River's hair behind her ear, "I doubt you ever will."

River smiled seeing the happiness in her mother's eyes for that, "What were the other yous doing here?"

"Sorry, can't say," the Doctor sighed.

"One of those out of order adventures?" she guessed.

"Our lips are sealed," Mac laughed.

"What's that word you use?" River eyed them.

"Spoilers?" they both said.

"I like that word," she grinned.

"We thought you might" the Doctor winked.

River let out a sigh, though she didn't seem very upset not to know what the others were doing there. If it was an out of order thing, then a future version of her was likely with them…she'd find out one day, "You know, you and your secrets? You'll be the death of me," she joked, walking past them to look at the TARDIS, not seeing the smiles on her parents' faces fade at her choice of words, nor how they took each other's hands in comfort.

A/N: I'm very excited for the last chapter of this story :) We'll see a bit of a parallel to something there that makes me very excited for Series 7 ;) As for this chapter though, bit of a family moment for them, awww :)

And OMG! I'm SO excited! I was checking my user stats and you guys! I've hit 1500 for favorite authors list :') I cried a little. You guys are just so amazing, I love you all so much :')

Some notes on reviews...

I agree, I think the Church is trying to prevent the time war and the less than nice ones from escaping again :) I could see Angel saving him and telling him it's because he deserves to be saved, since it was the High Council manipulating him all his life, I think she could relate to feeling nothing but constant pain and wanting it to end in 2 ways that would make her more empathetic to him over time :') Oh dear god, the psychic pollen would SO latch onto the Master above the Doctor, lol, I've already got an idea in mind for that episode if I do it }:) I probably wouldn't rename him though, mostly because I'd want the Master to be the one trying to redeem himself and not another him. Like...how the Doctor didn't consider the War Doctor to BE the Doctor at all, going so far as to not count him among his past incarnations. I think, renaming him, would be like he's not the Master, and the Master would be the one that needs the redemption and forgiveness :)


	18. TTLTWATW - Part 1

The Time Lords, the Widow, and the Wardrobe - Part 1

Mac stepped into the TARDIS as it settled in the small flat that she'd rented when she'd worked for UNIT. She was…officially labeled as deceased within the organization, however she was still listed as active in terms of being a member. It seemed that UNIT was hopeful that, despite her apparent 'suicide' that she'd somehow survived past it and that she'd come back one day. Given her and the Doctor's track record and all the situations they got into where their lives were on the line, it seemed UNIT just had a 'unless we see the body they're alive' mentality. They were both listed as being active members of UNIT despite their own biographies labeling them as 'deceased.'

She'd gone to her flat because she knew no one had been there since she'd left with the Doctor the first time and the lease would be up rather soon. She'd renewed it twice since she'd gone off with the Doctor, just…wanting to keep her flat more for a place to go incase the TARDIS decided to run away on them one day, which she had done once or twice so far. At first it had been a way to try and keep a backup, a home, because her last self hadn't believed that the TARDIS was a home or that she'd stay with the Doctor so long. She'd done it again because she just…wasn't sure she could be around the Doctor knowing how terrible she'd been to him and half expected that the day would come where he'd tell her to get out. The lease was coming to an end now…and well, with her dead she couldn't exactly renew the lease now. She knew that was just a rationalization though, she…she didn't want to renew it, the flat wasn't her home anymore.

She smiled to herself as she saw the console, she hoped the Doctor would like that, it was a part of her Christmas gift to him. But she stopped short, dropping her bag, the small items that she had still sitting around her flat and her some left over clothes stuffed in it, when she saw the state the Doctor was in as he rushed around the console.

"Doctor?" she eyed him, dressed in a spacesuit, the helmet on backwards.

"Ah Kenzie!" he spun around in the direction her voice was coming from, "So I DID get it right."

"Do I want to know?" she sighed, heading up the console to join him, actually quite a bit impressed to see that he'd managed to make it to her flat when he couldn't see the controls…she was suspicious that the TARDIS had helped with that though.

"Oh this?" he chuckled, "Just something I threw on."

"Yes, I can see that," she laughed, moving over to him and pulling the helmet off his head, laughing even more when he took a giant gasp of air, "Why?"

He shrugged, "Got a bit of a distress call when you were out, went to check on it."

"Without me?" she blinked.

"I didn't want to bother you."

"And so you went to check out a mysterious distress call alone?" she sighed, shaking her head, "Shall we go over all the misadventures you've had that began with getting a distress call?"

"No, no," he winced, thinking of them all, "That's quite alright dear."

She sighed, "So what was the distress call about?"

"Oh just you know, the usual."

She gave him a look, "So a deadly alien ship hovering above the earth ready to enslave and/or destroy it that you had to blow up?"

He blinked at her, "Well…not quite deadly…" he tried to stutter out an answer.

She shook her head, "I take it you succeeded then?"

"Yes," he smiled, "Got off the ship just in time," he patted the suit.

"And landed where?" she asked, because if he'd had the TARDIS he wouldn't have needed the suit.

"Somewhere in the late 1930s," he shrugged, "A lovely mother helped me out. Though I wouldn't recommend letting her drive you anywhere," he winced at the memory, "Actually might be worse than me."

"Oh Doctor," she looked at him softly, "What am I going to do with you?"

He smiled at her, "I can think of quite a lot. Starting with…" he leaned in and kissed her, feeling his hearts speeding up to do so. He'd admittedly been putting distance between them the last 200 years, not wanting to really woo her when he wasn't even sure he'd survive the lake incident, he didn't want to build up that connection that Chosens had and then have it broken like that. But now…now they were both alive and he could get back to trying to win her over.

He had A LOT of lost time to make up for, "Now then," he murmured as he pulled away, "I have a Christmas gift for you," he whispered.

"I have one for you too," she nodded, about to tell him about the lease…when an alarm went off.

"Ooh now?" the Doctor huffed, moving to the monitor to check it, "You have to do this NOW dear?" he looked up at the rotor, "I was about to give Kenzie her gift you know."

"I don't think it's the TARDIS's fault Doctor," Mac laughed, moving around to the alarm, "It's picking up a psychic…wish?" she blinked and looked at him, "Did you set the TARDIS to pick up on someone wishing for you?"

The Doctor frowned a moment, not quite sure…before he hit himself in the forehead, "Yes, yes I did," he nodded, "That mother that helped me, Madge Arwell, I told her I'd like to return the favor and help her one day, said to make a wish if she needed me..."

Mac smiled and nodded, "Well if she helped get you back to me, we'd best go help her then."

The Doctor blinked and smiled widely at that as he got to work helping her pilot the box to Madge, what she'd just said…about Madge getting him back to her…just warmed his hearts.

~8~

Mac was in the kitchen of a lovely old manor house in the country, trying to make something that could possibly resemble a light lunch while the Doctor grinned and watched from the doorway, leaning on the doorframe and just…watched. That was all he was allowed to do after he'd nearly set the stove on fire…and then nearly killed them all with the smoke coming from the oven…and then shorted out every sort of electrical appliance in the room…and then decided to try and improve the refrigerator. It got to the point where she'd ordered him out of the room and left her to making the food. Which was just as well, she'd gone a bit…extreme in trying to get the old house livable for the Arwells as they'd gotten word that Madge and her two children would be coming to stay there shortly. The house was in a bad state and she'd been going frantic with worry over it…much to the Doctor's amusement though. She'd fretted about the state of the floor, the structural stability, the creaking, the dust, the grime, the mold, everything that could cause discomfort to the humans or affect their health. She'd scrubbed every floor and aired out all the rooms, dusted everything…and forced the Doctor to stay in the TARDIS after she'd learned that in his own efforts to clean he'd somehow managed to motorize the chairs in the sitting room, make the stairs like an escalator, and tried to make the doors automatic to the point where they just sort of fell from their hinges instead.

She'd made sure everything was spick and span and not a danger to the family, and that just left getting them some food to eat. She was sure, after their long journey they'd be hungry and want a bite to eat. She smiled as she felt the Doctor wrap his arms around her waist and rest his chin on her shoulder, watching her make sandwiches over it.

"You are SUCH a mother," he murmured to her, giving her a squeeze.

She smiled sadly at that, "Motherly maybe."

He let out a bit of a laugh, "Always were, always will be the ultimate mother hen."

This was the sort of thing he'd have expected her first self to do, to go all out to secure the house and make it the best condition she could for the safety and comfort of the Arwells.

"I just want them to be happy," she shrugged, "Especially on Christmas, with the war and everything."

That was a doozy to realize they were landing in the middle of the wars, again, but it did explain why Madge needed the Doctor's help so badly that the TARDIS had picked up on it. She must genuinely and truly need his help and be quite desperate for it for the TARDIS to get a reading on it.

They looked back as they heard someone knock on the main doors and turned to each other, "They're here," they said at the same time, laughing a bit.

"You go," Mac nudge him off, "I'm just finishing up the sandwiches and I'll join you in a mo."

He nodded, giving her a kiss on the cheek before he hurried off…only to rush back in and peck her on the lips for good measure before dashing off truly this time.

Mac laughed to herself at that and quickly hurried to finish the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches she was working on for the children, a small meat sandwich for Madge. She had hard the children shouting out 'father!' before and she could tell they were hopeful their father was there and would be quite disappointed to see it was just her and the Doctor instead.

She grabbed the small plate of sandwiches and hurried off into the foyer just in time to see the Arwells setting down their suitcases with a small 'thank you' to the Doctor…only for him to step right over them.

"Would you mind carrying them for me?" the Doctor was grinning, heading in her direction but not quite seeing her yet, "I just need to grab Kenzie and we can show you round."

"I'm right here Doctor," Mac called, stepping into the room, "Hello," she smiled at the family, "Sandwiches?" she held up the plate.

Madge quickly reached out to stop her children going for the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as she stared at the two of them, "Who are you?"

Mac blinked and looked at the Doctor, "You were rude and didn't introduce yourself weren't you?" she guessed.

"Might have slipped my mind, yes," he nodded.

Mac sighed, "Sorry, I'm Mackenzie," she reached out to shake their hands.

"Madge," Madge greeted, "My children Lily and Cyril," she added.

"Lovely names," she smiled at the children, "I'm the…maid," she offered, given how much cleaning and cooking she'd done, she certainly felt like it.

"Yes, and I'm the caretaker," the Doctor offered his hand.

Madge took it slowly, eyeing him curiously, "But you're not Mr. Cardew."

"I agree," he nodded.

"But I don't understand. Are you the _new_ caretaker?"

"Usually called the Doctor," he shrugged, "Or the Caretaker. Or Get Off This Planet."

"That's more what they say TO you instead of what they actually CALL you though," Mac pointed out on that last one.

"Right, well, everyone grab a sandwich," he gestured at the plate, "I promise they're edible, Kenzie made them and not me though I quite think my sandwiches are just fine."

"No," Mac shook her head, "No they're not. Don't EVER accept a sandwich from him. An omelet, fine, but not a sandwich."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Ok," he clapped his hands, seeing they all had sandwiches now and took one for himself, beaming as he took a bite, "Come on, come on, lots to see," he turned to lead them off, "Whistle stops tour. Take notes, there will be questions."

~8~

Mac had to ad mit that, desite the rather large flubs and 'improvements' that the doctor had made around the house, like the motorized chairs in the sitting room, the lemonade tap in the kitchen, the staircase escalator (broken), and the fact that he'd thought panthers were a good method of keeping children out of the attic (she really WOULD have to make sure they brought the panthers back to their homes quickly) she was rather excited to see the children's room. He'd begged her and begged her and begged her while she'd been preparing Madge's lovely room, to allow him to handle the room Lily and Cyril would be sharing. She was quite sure he wasn't being fair though, because he'd say please, and then kiss her, repeatedly, and that was cheating. But she'd given in and allowed him to do it so she was both excited and apprehensive about what he'd done to the children's rooms. Already she saw one rather large problem.

There were no beds.

It literally looked like a giant playroom instead of a bedroom.

Which, it appeared, had been the Doctor's prime objective the entire time as he rushed into the room, beaming at them, all too excited to show of all the toys and highlights for the room, "Lily and Cyril's room!" he clapped, gesturing around at all the toys scattered everywhere, "I'm going to be honest... masterpiece. The ultimate bedroom."

Except without a bed, Mac had to think.

"A sciencey-wiencey workbench. A jungle! A maze! A window disguised as a mirror. A mirror disguised as a window! Torches for midnight feasts and secret reading. Zen garden, mysterious cupboard, zone of tranquility, rubber wall, dream tank, exact model of the rest of the house... not QUITE to scale, apologies... dolls with comical expressions, the Magna Carta, a foot spa, Cluedo, a yellow fort…"

"Where are the beds?" Cyril cut in.

"I was wondering the same thing dear," Mac nodded.

"I couldn't fit everything in," the Doctor mock-huffed, "There had to be sacrifices."

"And you decided to sacrifice the bed instead of the um…Magna Carta and zen garden?" Mac gave him a look, both were things she doubted children would be interested in.

"Well who needs beds when you've got..." he ran to a lever by the wall and pulled it down, dropping hammocks from the ceiling, "Hammocks!" he cheered, looking at the children and whispering, "I know," at how exciting it all was, before he grinned at Mac, "Took a leaf out of your book dear."

Mac shook her head, that did seem like something she'd do, come up with hammocks as a simple solution. At least she could be grateful he didn't try to make hover beds or something.

Cyril, however, seemed to be having a bit of trouble getting on his hammock as he went to test it out, "But how do you get on?"

"Watch and learn, kid," the Doctor grinned, taking a running jump at the beds…and fell right between the two of them, overshooting the first and missing the last, landing with a thump on the floor.

"Doctor!" Mac rushed over to him, kneeling on the ground and checking on him, "Are you alright?" she asked, fretting, touching his head and arms gently to make sure he hadn't hurt himself, "Are you hurt?"

He reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it to his left heart, "Just fine dear," he smiled at her for her concern, "I think the hammock has developed a fault though…"

"Children," Madge shook her head at his antics as Mac helped the Doctor stand, "Go downstairs."

"Why?" Lily frowned, "Are we leaving?"

"Yes! No! I don't know. Just, please, go downstairs!" she snapped.

Lily stepped back at that, putting an arm on her brother's back to lead him out, murmuring, "You don't need to shout," to her mother as she passed.

Madge swallowed hard at that, closing the door behind her a crack as she looked at the Time Lords, "Why are you doing all this?"

"I'm just..." the Doctor glanced from her to Mac and back, "Trying to take care of things. I'm the caretaker."

"That's not what caretakers do."

"Then why are they called caretakers?"

"They take care of the house, Doctor," Mac told him, "They're only meant to make sure it remains sound and safe…"

"Their father's dead," Madge called, flinching at the mention of keeping things safe, her mind going to her husband.

"Oh sweetie," Mac moved over to Madge and hugged her tightly, "I'm so sorry," she whispered in Madge's ear.

Madge sniffled and hugged her back, just…needing a moment of comfort, just a moment, before she took a deep breath and stepped back, wiping under her eyes so that her children wouldn't see any sign of her crying later, "Lily and Cyril's father... my husband... Is dead, and they don't know yet. Because if I tell them now, then Christmas will always be what took their father away from them, and no one should have to live like that. Of course, when the Christmas period is over, I shall..." she swallowed hard, not wanting to say it much less think about what she'd have to tell them and how she'd explain that she'd kept it from them, "I don't know why I keep shouting at them."

Mac was silent, she really didn't know, she couldn't begin to imagine why the woman was snapping at her children. She knew that SHE snapped at humans when they were in a tense situation and she thought they were being slow, but this wasn't anything like that. The Doctor, however, knew exactly what was wrong.

"Because every time you see them happy, you remember how sad they're going to be, and it breaks your heart," he began, hearing the children starting to call for their mother from down stairs, "Because what's the point in them being happy now if they're going to be sad later. The answer is, of course... because they _are _going to be sad later."

Mac looked at him sadly for that, it made sense, though she knew he could understand it better than she could, "Come on," she reached out to put an arm around Madge's shoulders, the woman deep in thought, "Your children want you downstairs, they've probably found the main sitting room."

"I repaired it," the Doctor whispered.

"And then I put the fire out," Mac added, sending the Doctor a playful wink, "And we BOTH got it ready."

Madge gave them a look before she stepped out of the room, the Time Lords following after her, down the stairs, to the main sitting room where a large Christmas tree was on display with ribbons and bows everywhere, ornaments on it and a train around the bottom and a small rocket on a stick spinning around from the middle of it. The entire room looked like something out of a Christmas movie it was that decked out for the holidays. The children looked back at the adults as they entered, pulling their gaze away from the rather large TARDIS blue wrapped present on the floor with a big white bow around it.

"I know," the Doctor winked at them, putting his arm around Mac's shoulders as they smiled at the family in the room.

"Look at that present!" Cyril rushed for it, looking at the tag, "It's for me!"

"It says it's for all of us," Lily corrected with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm the youngest, I get to open it first!"

"Doesn't say who it's from," Lily mused, the Time Lords taking that as their cue to head out and leave the family to their privacy, they had a panther to deal with…

~8~

"I still can't believe you really brought a panther into the house Doctor," Mac remarked as she and the Doctor sat at a small table in the attic, working on wires for the TARDIS, just getting some work done.

"It was just a baby panther," he defended.

"Whose mother nearly tore you apart when you brought him back to her for stealing the cub in the first place."

"Yes…well…shut up," he laughed.

She shook her head at him and glanced over when they heard the door open to see Lily had entered the room, "You were lying about the panthers."

"And you were entering without knocking," Mac countered, "Seems we're all equally rude."

Lily flushed at that, realizing she really had entered 'their room' without knocking, so, in a true child's fashion, instead of apologizing she merely changed the subject, "Why have you got a phone box in your room?"

"It's not a phone box," the Doctor said quickly, "It's our... wardrobe. I've just painted it to look like a phone box."

Lily nodded, as though that made sense, "What are you doing?"

"Rewiring our wardrobe," Mac gave the Doctor a look for that. If he'd said it's our time travelling spaceship, Lily probably wouldn't have believed him and thought it really was a wardrobe.

"Why would you rewire a wardrobe?"

"Have you seen the way I dress?" the Doctor joked.

Lily smiled at that but eyed them, "Who are you? REALLY, who are you?"

"What's that?" Mac looked over at the Doctor, seeing one of the wires by him flashing.

He picked it up and examined it, before he looked at Lily, "Your brother, where is he?"

"Sleeping," Lily shrugged.

Mac glanced at the Doctor, neither of them believing that as the blinking light was the safeguards they'd put on the present to the family…it had been tampered with, "I'll go check," Mac offered, getting up.

"I'll go with you," Lily rushed after her, it wasn't that she didn't trust the woman or the Doctor it was just…it was her little brother. She led Mac over to the door to their room and pushed it open, the two peering in to see a lump on Cyril's hammock with a blanket over it.

Mac frowned at that, "You go back to the um…Caretaker," she ushered Lily back to the upper stairs, "I've got to check on something," before she headed down the stairs to the main floor herself.

She quickly made her way to the main sitting room where the tree was set up…to see that the present had been opened.

"Knew it," Mac muttered, heading over to it only to see Cyril jump through the box and into the sitting room once more. She'd just opened her mouth to call out to him when he hurried back into the box, "Wonderful," she sighed, moving to the entrance of the box and hopping in after him to see the boy crouched on the ground, looking at a set of footprints leading away from a cracked metal bauble.

He felt his pocket before he spun around, looking like he was about to rush back into the box, when he stopped short, seeing Mac standing there, "Looking for this?" she held up a torch that had been sitting just outside the box.

"Mackenzie!" Cyril gasped, "I um…I'm sorry, I just wanted to see what was in the present and…" he shook his head, not knowing what to say about all this.

"What's that there?" she nodded at the cracked ball, "What were you looking at?"

"I touched one of the baubles and it started to grow, I dropped it and ran away and when I came back it hatched!" he pointed at the footprints, Mac walking over to look at them, "It's walking away and I wanted to see what it was."

Mac looked around, she hadn't been expecting this when the Doctor suggested this as a gift for the family. She bit her lip, she didn't feel right sending Cyril back into the sitting room alone, she knew he'd just follow her back in, but she also didn't feel right not investigating. If that bauble hatched thing was dangerous, she needed to know before the Doctor or Lily or Madge followed them.

She sighed, taking his hand, "Let's go find out then."

"Really!?" Cyril beamed at her.

She smiled and nodded, handing him his torch, "Just promise me you'll stick with me and not wander off."

"I promise!" he nodded eagerly, and they were off, following the footprints through the trees.

~8~

Mac was hesitant and growing more concerned as she noticed the footprints they were following were steadily growing larger, something Cyril seemed oblivious to as he rambled about the different types of trees he was making out through the snow coating them. They were in a veritable winter wonderland, snow everywhere, evergreen trees coated in it, a light flurry of it falling around them. It was lovely if cold, but Cyril seemed to be enjoying himself too much to feel the chill. She, being a Time Lady, was just fine with it as well, but she was sure to keep Cyril close, keeping half a mind on him and what he was saying and the other half on the trees whispering around her, the footsteps getting bigger…

She stopped when they came across a large stone tower in the middle of the forest.

"Do we go in?" Cyril looked at her, squeezing her hand, far too excited.

She looked down at him and smiled tensely, he reminded her of the Doctor with his curiosity and eagerness. It tugged on her hearts to be there with a child, she was on edge even more because Cyril's entire wellbeing depended on her now…and she hadn't displayed the best record in the past of keeping children that depended on her safe. She was trying though, 200 years later and she was trying so hard to get over the past and try to prove that she could be capable of protecting a child, that she could take care of them and keep them safe. It hurt and it scared her, but she was trying. Knowing the Doctor's luck, there would be likely many more children they'd encounter in the future and it wouldn't do if she was constantly pushing them on the Doctor instead.

"I suppose we'll have to," she murmured, taking a breath, whatever it was, the footsteps had led to this tower. If it was some sort of control room, she needed to know what it was controlling, "Stay behind me though Cyril," she told him, moving for the tower as Cyril did as he was told and kept safely behind her as she pushed the door open slowly, shining her light around.

There was a wooden man, a statue, sitting on a small throne-like chair, a wooden grown on its head.

"Is that a king?" Cyril wondered, peering at it around Mac's legs.

"King of the Forest maybe," she mused, walking closer to it and eyeing it with her penlight.

"What's up there?" Cyril looked up at a staircase winding around the edges of the tower, leading up to the top.

Mac, however, had her gaze on the ground where the footsteps had led to the statue, the statue being the one that had made it obviously. She eyed it again, it hadn't moved, it hadn't attacked…so perhaps it was waiting. And if it was waiting, they might have more time to see what was up there.

"Let's find out," she took Cyril's hand and they slowly headed up the steps towards the top, Mac glancing between their path and the king still sitting below.

They reached the top without incident, though Mac noticed something interesting about the stairs they were climbing, there were no supports beneath them, it was like they'd grown out of the walls. And, looking closer at the walls, she could see a distinct wood-like grain in the stone that gave her the impression that the entire tower was really wood but disguised as stone, which she wasn't sure the point of. But she had little time to think on that as she opened the door at the top of the tower, stepping through it with Cyril to see they were in a large, glass dome-like room, made of triangles of glass all around, mostly white glass but with a few panes that were clear enough to see through. And there, in the middle of the room, was another wooden statue, a queen though, in a crown with a dress, just…standing behind another throne-like chair, similar t the one that the king was sitting on below. There was something different about this one though, there was a metal circlet in her hands, held above the chair, as though waiting to crown whoever sat upon it.

She looked over when she saw Cyril at the window, looking out at the forest, and joined him, "It's called Androzani," she told him, "Androzani Major, their forests."

"It's amazing," Cyril breathed, smiling.

Mac put a hand on his back, leaning forward slightly when she saw two figures rushing for the tower, the Doctor and Lily, their voices echoing up to them when they entered the tower.

She turned, about to go to the door and call them up there…when she gasped and pulled Cyril behind her, seeing the queen statue had moved and was standing right behind them.

"DOCTOR!" she shouted, hoping he'd hear her right when the door they'd entered through slammed shut on its own, "Cyril stay behind me," Mac moved him back, keeping him behind her as she tried to back him up towards the doors…

But the queen seemed intent to get to Cyril and reached out, knocking her to the side, sending her right into the wall and sliding to the ground, the last thing she could hear was the Doctor calling for her and Cyril, the Queen cornering the boy onto the chair as she lowered the circlet towards him…before her world went black…

A/N: Sorry, I did it again :( I posted this when I posted Merlin this morning and left the page before it could properly load -sigh- I'll try and be more patient lol :) I can't believe this story is over tomorrow! But I'm very excited for the last chapter ^-^

But...for anyone interested, I've got a Gold/OC, Once Upon a Time, story coming in about an hour ;)

Some notes on reviews...

I'm not quite sure if he hid it, at least not from his Companions, he just didn't consider the man to be 'the Doctor' as he took the name 'Warrior' instead, so it was literally not a Doctor :) It's sort of like how the BBC considers Matt the 11th Doctor still even though he's on his 13th incarnation because the Warrior wasn't a Doctor and 10.2 was the same person as 10, so he's still just the 11th Doctor :) I think it was more shame to know that the Warrior likely fought, used a gun, killed, and participated in very dark things during the war. He'd probably rather his companions think he was around but not actively fighting in a war, before he time locked the planet to save the Universe :) I'm curious what SM's plans for Gallifrey are too :)

Aww thanks! ^-^ I'm glad you enjoyed the HOTS so much :') I'm definitely excited for the DW/Merlin crossover whenever that comes around :)

The light from the lake was a reference to Amy never having seen the Doctor regenerate before, she was comparing the light that the Doctor was expelling at the lake with Mels regenerating since she didn't know what regenerating really looked like :)


	19. TTLTWATW - Part 2

The Time Lords, the Widow, and the Wardrobe - Part 2

"Kenzie!" Mac winced as she heard someone shouting at her, "Kenzie!" and then flinched when she felt someone shaking her, "Mackenzie wake up!"

For a second Mac didn't want to wake up, she could feel the stirrings of a headache from where she'd hit the wall and knew that if she truly woke up she'd end up with a severe migraine. For a second, she just wanted to keep her eyes closed and just stay asleep, sink back into the blackness and rest. But after that second passed she could process the concern and genuine fear in the voice that was calling to her, the voice was terrified, the DOCTOR was terrified.

She blinked blearily, slowly stirring and looked up from where she was on her side, her back against the wall she'd fallen against, to see the Doctor crouched before her, his hands on her shoulder, scanning her with the sonic, the fear in his voice reflected in his eyes.

"Doctor…" she breathed.

He looked at her, his eyes shooting to her face and she could see him heave a giant sigh of relief to see her awake. He swallowed hard, examining her, she had a bit of a bump on the head, but she was ok otherwise. She'd nearly given him dual hearts attacks! He and Lily had rushed into the forest, expecting to just be looking for her and Cyril…only to burst into the room after hearing her scream for his help to find her collapsed on the ground, not moving with Cyril on a throne-like chair unconscious. He'd checked on Cyril of course, Mac would kill him if he fretted over her before helping a child, but still…he'd been frantic when he'd tried to rouse her and she didn't wake. For one brief moment he'd thought she'd died but he saw her breathing.

"Are you alright?" he asked her quietly.

She nodded, wincing again at the motion before trying to sit up, him helping her, a hand to her head, "Don't get in the way of the wooden dollies," she muttered.

He laughed a bit at that, "They seem to enjoy targeting you don't they?" he mused, thinking back to the dollies that had attacked her and Amy and Rory when he'd been helping George. He had to sigh at that, George made him think of Cyril and how Mac had actually gone with the boy this time, not that he doubted she would. No matter her thoughts on children, if there was one alone and she was the only adult there, she'd put it all aside to do her best to help till at least he got there. He didn't doubt she'd tried to help Cyril and been knocked aside as a result. It warmed his hearts to see that she'd gone with Cyril, but…it also tugged at his hearts not just because he knew how that had to be difficult for her…but also because, well, he'd wanted the chance to walk through the winter wonderland that was the Androzani forests with her. He'd wanted a nice walk through the snow, perhaps a kiss under the mistletoe, and then to present her with her gift…but things got in the way and the humans were up to their normal shenanigans. Right now though he was just relieved that she was alive and relatively unhurt.

"Come on," he reached out to help her stand, his arm around her waist, "Up you get…"

"What happened to Cyril?" Mac froze, seeing the boy sitting on the chair, still unconscious, his sister crouched before him, trying to wake him.

"He's alright," the Doctor told her, "He's fine…just knocked out, but he's fine."

"The queen statue was moving…"

"Yes," he nodded, rubbing the side of his face, "The um…king statue is on his way up right now."

"Brilliant," Mac sighed, that was just fantastic, "And the sonic'll be no use against wood…" she reached into her pocket to grab her lighter, knowing fire would help.

But the Doctor lightly grabbed her wrist, "I don't think they mean any harm…"

"Ok," Mac nodded, trusting him, "And the lights?" she nodded towards the clear window panes where she could see what looked like stars drifting out of the trees.

"Yes, well, that…I have no idea."

The two of them jumped and turned around, backing up as they saw the king statue had reached them and was moving towards the throne to join the queen.

"What are they doing?" Lily gasped, "Stop him!"

The Doctor lifted his sonic, but Mac pushed it back down, "Wood, dear," she reminded him, but then the statues just stopped on either side of the throne and just…stood there, "I think you were right about them not meaning harm," Mac murmured, "But how do we figure out what they want?"

The statues seemed to have an answer for that themselves as they merely looked at Cyril and the metal band around his head lit up, allowing him to slowly wake, "They're scared," Cyril told them quietly, still sounding half asleep as he woke, "Can't you hear them? The trees are screaming. Can't you hear?"

"No sweetie, I'm afraid we can't," Mac told him.

The Doctor quickly soniced the metal band, looking at the readings intently, "But you can. You're connected to them."

"Why have the stars left the trees?" Lily frowned.

"I think they're..." Cyril began, trying to find the words, "Evacuating. They're evacuating."

"Evacuating for what?" Mac asked.

"They're... frightened of the rain. The rain that burns."

The Doctor and Mac glanced up, having a fairly good guess what sort of rain that could be, when Lily turned to them, "Caretaker, please explain. I'm frightened."

"It's alright," Mac stepped out of the Doctor's arms to kneel beside Lily, rubbing the girl's back, "It'll be alright sweetie, there's nothing to be frightened of."

"Those stars," the Doctor began, "They're pure life force. Souls, if you like. And they're trying to escape because they think their home is going to burn."

"Why can't they just float up into the sky?" Lily frowned.

"Well," Mac mused, "If they're lifeforces and they were inhabiting trees…they probably need a vessel of some sort to hold them for longer periods of time or more dangerous trips."

The Doctor considered that a moment before scanning the band again, "It's not a crown, it's a relay. They're turning your brother into a lifeboat!" he flipped the sonic and slid it back into his coat pocket, "That's what this place is for, then. It's an escape plan, is that it?"

Mac tensed as the queen leaned down to place a hand on Cyril's shoulder, "Your coming was foretold," Cyril said, though his voice was far too deep and scratchy, as though the statue as using him to speak through.

"My God, what is that?" Lily gaped at her brother, "Why does he sound like that?"

"It's alright sweetie," Mac reassured her, "It's the statue, they're talking through Cyril."

"We had faith," the queen continued, "Your coming was foretold."

"There's no such thing as foretelling," the Doctor shook his head, "Trust a time traveler."

"We waited, and you came."

"So, you've got an escape plan. Why aren't you escaping?"

"The child is weak."

"Because he's a child?" Mac shook her head

"No, he is weak. The forest cannot live in him. But there are others."

"Like who?" Mac asked, not sure why it had targeted Cyril, if it was looking for an alien, she had been right there.

"Like me," the Doctor winked, "Good thing I look great in a hat. So," he clapped his hands, "Let's get this thing off, eh?' and reached for the band.

"I don't think it wants us Doctor," Mac argued.

"You are also weak," the queen agreed.

"I'm really not," the Doctor shook his head, "Let's save a forest, Cyril?"

"You are not the one. You are weak."

"I'm really not," he insisted, grabbing the band in his hands, only to cry out in pain as an energy surged through him.

"Doctor!" Mac gasped, rushing over to him as he fell to his knees and grabbed the band out of his hands, expecting the same agonizing energy…but instead got more of a light, warm tingle, "I don't understand," Mac stared at it.

Lily cautiously walked over and touched it too, "Ooh, it's sort of tingly," she murmured, taking it from Mac.

The Doctor just stared at her, panting, "Tingly?!"

The queen reached out, stepping past the throne to touch Lily's shoulder, "She is strong, but she is young," the statue used her now.

Lily gasped and pulled away, stepping to Mac's side as she dropped the band, the Queen picking it up as Mac put an arm around Lily to comfort her.

"Ok…" the Doctor nodded slowly, seeming puzzled but the new information, "She's strong, I'm weak. Interesting."

"Mummy?" Cyril called, starting to snap out of whatever it was the statues had done to him as the band was no longer on him.

Lily cast a cautious look at the queen before she rushed over to crouch before her brother, "Cyril, it's alright. It's me. Mummy isn't here, but we're going home to her right now. Aren't we?" she looked at the Doctor and Mac.

Mac looked up though, hearing the pitter patter of drops on glass to see it had started raining…and it hit her, "Acid rain…burning rain," she looked at the Doctor, alarmed, "We need to go, now."

"We have to get out of this forest," he agreed, "We're in terrible danger. This tower won't protect us for long."

"Where's Mummy?" Cyril repeated.

"She's coming," Lily tried to reassure him, "You know she's coming…because she always comes, doesn't she?"

The Doctor looked at Mac a moment, before he crouched before the children as well, Mac moving to the window to look out for the acid rain, keep watch on it, see when it would start to really affect things, "Cyril, the way we came here, that door won't stay open for ever. Now, I'm not even sure if Kenzie and I can get us through the forest safely, but if we're going to have any chance at all, we have to go now."

"No," Cyril crossed his arms, "We wait for Mummy. Mummy always comes."

"Not this time, Cyril. I'm sorry, but not this time."

"Actually…" Mac called, "You may be wrong about that Doctor," she pointed out the window where a small search light could be seen in the distance, through the trees, moments before what looked like a large metal box on three legs was seen walking through it above the trees.

"What's that?" Lily squinted through the window, not willing to get up and leave her brother just for a closer look.

"It's an Androzani Harvester!" the Doctor recognized it, "And, better yet…I think I recognize the driving!"

"Is that Madge?" Mac squinted, just barely able to make out Madge sitting at the controls of the harvester, she had to laugh when, as the Doctor was shouting out encouragements to keep going…the harvester toppled over with Madge still inside.

"It's ok," the Doctor spun to the children, "She's fine, don't worry. Stay here. Just stay here," he grabbed Mac's hand and tugged her off with him, now that they knew the statues meant no harm, and that they didn't want the children, they were more content to leave them in that chamber for the moment. Right now they were rather concerned for the children's mother.

"Madge?" Mac called as they reached the bottom of the stairs, just as Madge ran in, her hood up, her jacket smoking and sizzling as holes appeared in it from the rain.

"Stay inside," Madge warned, tossing her hood back, "The rain is frightful! Lily? Cyril?"

"Up there," Mac pointed to the stairs and the woman was off.

The Doctor glanced out at the harvester, their only way back to the gateway…only for the scan he was running with the sonic to come up in rather poor results, "Nice one, Madge. A complete write-off! Now what do we do?" he looked at Mac.

"I'd say…try to figure out what THAT is and stop it," she pointed up where all the stars and souls of the trees were spiraling towards the tower.

They turned and bolted up the stairs to see what was happening, only for the sight of Madge, crowned and seated on the throne to greet them, all the lights swirling right into her head.

"The stars are going inside her!" Lily gasped, "She's taking the whole forest!"

"Madge?" Mac rushed over, "Madge, what did you do!?"

"Oh, this is marvelous," Madge just replied in a daze, "Oh, this is really quite wonderful."

"Madge are you alright?" the Doctor tried, seeing her just smiling away, staring blankly ahead of her, "talk to me. Madge, can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you," she laughed, "I'm perfectly fine, thank you."

"Perfectly fine?" Mac stared at her, "There's a forest in your head."

"I know. It's funny, isn't it? One can't imagine being a forest, then suddenly one can. How remarkable!"

"And you're ok?" the Doctor shook his head, glancing at the queen and king, "SHE's ok?"

"She is strong," the queen used Madge to speak through.

"That wasn't me," Madge blinked, seeming to be on the verge of concern for a moment before she laughed again, "This is all really rather clever, isn't it?"

"She's strong? She's strong?"

"Why are YOU the only one talking?" Mac looked at the queen, noticing that she was the only one of the two statues doing much of anything, "Why's it always you, why not your king too?"

"That's it!" the Doctor spun to Mac, the realization hitting him, "Stupid me! Stupid old Doctor! Do you get it, Cyril?" he looked at the boy.

"No," he shook his head.

"Lily, you do, don't you?"

"No," she mimicked her brother.

"Course you do!" but he sighed and looked at Mac, "Weak and strong, it's a _translation_. Translated from the base code of nature itself. Cyril and I are weak, Lily and Madge are strong."

"Male vs. female," Mac worked it out.

"Yes! And Madge is MUM! How else does life ever travel? The MOTHER ship!"

Mac's expression turned sad, "Suppose that explains why they didn't want me, eh?"

The Doctor's excitement immediately evaporated at that, realizing she HAD been there when the statues went after Cyril which meant one of two things. The first was that they didn't sense her as a mother, that she didn't give off that distinct motherly feel (which he couldn't fathom as she WAS a mother and, what's more, was the most motherly person he had ever known), or that they were assuming she wasn't a mother as Madge's children were there to prove she WAS one. He was strongly leaning towards the last one, the children had called Madge mum enough times that the statues could work out based on the children's reactions that Madge was their mother and A mother. They'd chosen Madge only because they knew for certain she was a mother and that was the only reason they'd taken her and no Mac.

He had little time to convey that thought though when the room suddenly shook as the small sphere they were standing in disengaged from the top of the tower, leaving the rest of it to the mercy of the acid rain while they were flown off into the sky.

"What's happening?" Lily cried.

"No idea," the Doctor reached out for Mac's waist to steady her, "Do what I do, hold tight and pretend it's a plan," he nearly fell backwards against the windows with Mac as the children ducked down on either side of their mother's chair, holding on for dear life.

The Doctor kept his arm around Mac's waist as she stumbled, still not quite balanced form her small fall earlier and ducked them down by the window. He peeked out a moment to see the time vortex open right before them, the entire thing flying into it, "This is... amazing!"

"Where are we?" Cyril squinted, trying to see.

"The time vortex," Mac called about the faint humming of the ship as they flew.

"You've got what you wanted," the Doctor shouted at the queen, "Those idiots down there can burn your old home and you'll be safe out here. But these people helped you, and they're in our protection. Now help them. How do we get home?"

The Queen leaned forward to touch Madge's shoulder, "Think."

"Think?" Mac blinked, "Madge?" she looked at the woman, "Can you do that? Can you think of home for us? Picture it in your mind and hold it there."

"Yes, feel it!" the Doctor agreed, "You have to really feel it. Can you do that? Your mind is controlling this vessel. You can fly us all back for Christmas!"

"My head is full of trees, Caretaker," Madge said casually, "Can't YOU fly us home? Couldn't Mackenzie?"

"Our home isn't your home Madge," Mac shook her head, "We won't be able to get you to your home well enough, we don't have that connection that you do to it. It's going to take more than thinking, it'll take emotion."

"You really need to feel it, Madge," the Doctor told her, "Everything about home you miss, till you can't bear it, till you almost burst."

"Till it hurts?" Madge breathed, "Is that what you mean, Caretaker? Till it hurts?"

"Yes," the Doctor sighed, so sorry for that, "Yes."

Madge swallowed hard and pulled a telegram from her pocket, the Time Lords knowing it was likely the missive about her husband's death, and gripped it tightly, "Well, then... home in time for Christmas!" she started to cry out in pain as they raced through the vortex.

"What's happening?" Lily looked at the Time Lords, "Where are we going?"

"Show them!" the Doctor demanded of the statues, "Show them!" the queen and king raised their hands, an image of where they were going appearing in the clear glass panels before them, allowing them all to see the swirls of the vortex, "Ha! The time vortex. Your mother is flying a forest through the time vortex. Be a little impressed!"

"Madge you need to focus," Mac moved over to the woman, crouching before her, "Focus on home sweetie. What's there for you? What's waiting there? Why is it so important to you?"

The image in the clear glass changed to show a man that they knew had to be Mr. Arwell even without the children crying out that it was their father.

"That's it," the Doctor nodded, encouraging her, seeing different images and memories of the man flashing before their eyes, "Focus on Reg. Be careful, but focus on him."

"Tell us how you met?" Mac looked at the woman.

Madge smiled, "He followed me home. I worked in the dairy, he always used to follow me home. He said he'd keep on following me till I married him! Didn't like to make a scene!"

"Just stay focused," the Doctor glanced back and forth between the glass and Madge, "Think of home. This thing, it works psychically... it'll find a signal and lock on," he flashed the band with the sonic, trying ot help…only for the scene to shift to Reg flying a plane at night in thick clouds.

"No," Madge gasped, struggling to pull back, "No, please, don't show me that! Please, don't show me that! Please, I don't want to see that!"

"We're sorry sweetie," Mac grabbed one of Madge's hands, knowing what the image/memory had to be of, "But you have to keep going.

"We can't break the signal now," the Doctor nodded solemnly, "We're sorry!"

"Not the night he died!" Madge begged, "I don't want to see him die!" she gripped Mac's hand tightly, hearing her children starting to cry out, to ask what she was talking about, what was going on…when the image played out for them all to see, the plane starting to fail, starting to go down, "Goodbye, my love," Madge wept, "Goodbye!"

The Doctor and Mac looked at each other, hating that this had to happen, when a bright light filled the room…

~8~

"I'm getting rather irritated with being knocked out," Mac muttered as she slowly came around to much the same treatment as before, the Doctor crouched above her but without the worry in his eyes, more a relief and a knowledge that she was just knocked out as the Arwells appeared to be. They were lying on the floor of the ship, the Doctor rushing about to all of them to check on how they were doing.

He chuckled, "So long as you keep waking up," he took her hand and helped her stand, kissing the back of it before he moved to check on Madge, Mac moving to the children.

"Lily?" she gently shook the children awake, "Cyril? Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Lily winced and slowly sat up.

"Are they dead?" Madge asked, seeing the Doctor checking on the king and queen statue that were just lying on the floor, unmoving.

"No," he smiled softly, "They're just wood now. They've been... emptied. The forest has gone from your head too, hasn't it?"

"But where is it now?"

"The life force of the whole forest has transmuted itself into a sub-etheric waveband of light, which can exist as a..." he was cut off suddenly when Mac gave him a light peck on the lips.

"Hush dear," she murmured, winding her arm around his waist and looking at the Arwells, "You freed the souls of the trees Madge," she said simply, "They're among the stars now."

"And where are we?" she asked as she and her children stood.

"Home!" the Doctor cheered, moving to a window and wiping the condensation off of it to reveal the manor house, "Christmas morning! We've taken a bit of a short cut. Haven't you always wanted to do that?"

"Mother?" Lily began.

Madge turned to her children and opened her arms to hug them, "Look at you. You've been so brave," but the children stepped back, "You... Look, we're home again, see?"

" What did you mean, watch him die?" Lily swallowed hard, taking Cyril's hand, "Where's Father?" but Madge was silent, "Where is he? Where's Daddy?" she looked down, seeing the telegram in her mother's hand, "Why are you holding a telegram? Well, what does it say?"

"We…we should leave you some privacy," Mac murmured, turning to lead the Doctor out.

"Thank you," Madge whispered to them as she turned to her children to tell them what happened, kneeling down before them and taking their hands as the Time Lords headed down the stairs and out of the ship.

They stopped short however when they saw something that had Mac running back up the stairs, not wanting Madge to say something that would undoubtedly crush the hearts of her children and possibly traumatize them against Christmas, "Madge!" she called as she hurried up the steps, "Made stop!" she looked over seeing the woman speaking about how her husband was lost, "I really am so sorry to disturb you but please…you NEED to come outside, NOW. And bring the children," she ran back down the steps and out the small ship, throwing her arms around the Doctor and hugging him tightly, the two of them laughing at the sight of the plane sitting on the lawn before them, the same plane that Reg had been flying in the vision.

"Oh Madge," the Doctor beamed as Madge and her children joined them, stunned, "Madge Arwell, who flew a whole forest though the time vortex... plus one husband!" he gestured at the plane where Reg himself was getting off and looking around, stunned, "He did it again, Madge. He followed you home. Look what you can do! Mother Christmas!"

"Madge!" Reg spotted her, "What am I doing here?"

Madge nearly wept as she threw her arms out and laughed, "It's Christmas Day, my love! Where else would you be?"

"Christmas Day? How?"

"We took a short cut," was all she could get out before she and her children were running for the man, enveloping him in a tight hug, tears all around.

"Happy crying," the Doctor mused as he put his arm around Mac's shoulders, the two of them just standing there and watching the little reunion with happy hearts, "Humany-wumany."

~8~

Mac looked up when she heard the doors to the TARDIS open to see the Doctor step back in, "Said goodbye already?" she asked.

He'd just stepped out to go find Madge and tell her that they were going to be off, to have a Merry Christmas, but it hadn't taken nearly as long as she thought it would take.

"She was already in the attic," he shrugged, "And let me tell you, I think she could give you a run for your money in the mothering department, I think she just threatened to ground me if we don't stop by the Ponds and tell them we're alive."

Mac's smile turned a bit sad at that, thinking about how many ways the woman could best her in that area.

The Doctor stepped closer to her, putting a hand on hers just after she got them into the Vortex, "I'm so proud of you Naery," he told her, "For how you stuck with Cyril and protected him, I know it wasn't easy."

"Protected him?" she scoffed, "He ended up getting attacked by a wooden statue that nearly had a forest possess him because I couldn't protect him."

"But you tried," he reminded her, "You stayed with him and you fought for him and that is what makes you a mother. A brilliant one might I add. And um…that actually reminds me of your gift…" he pulled out a small rectangular parcel from his pocket, wrapped in blue with a white ribbon like the other present had been.

"What is it?" Mac took it curiously.

"You'll have to open it to find out," he winked.

She laughed and pulled the gift open, gasping softly as she saw it was a small picture in a frame…of River and Teddy together, likely taken during one of their adventures together or when they first met, "It's lovely," she breathed, smiling as she traced their smiling faces.

"Neither of them would exist without you," he reminded her, "Teddy quite literally," he joked.

Mac smiled at that and looked up at him, "I um…I can't quite give you your gift it's more…um, it's not a physical gift…"

"Ok," he nodded.

She took a breath and took his hands, "The TARDIS is my only home now," she told him, "I gave up my flat."

He blinked, "So…you won't ever leave me?" he started to smile.

"No," she laughed at his rather pleased expression, "I don't think I ever could because…I'd be leaving something rather important with you that I couldn't function without."

He frowned, thinking on that, "What?"

She bit her lip a moment, "You first Christmas in this body you said there was only one thing you wanted for the holiday…but I…I couldn't give it to you then."

"Naery…" he breathed, his eyes starting to widen.

"I'm sorry it took me this long Theta," she squeezed his hands, "But…I'm ready to give you that gift now," she took a deep breath, "I love you," she told him, "I really, truly do, and…I'm SO happy you're my Chosen. You…you have my hearts, if you still want them."

The Doctor let out a breath as he stared at her in awe, he'd said he'd wanted her hearts that first Christmas and even though it had taken them centuries, even though their relationship had been so out of order…they'd reached that point, they finally had, where she loved him like a Chosen was meant to love their partner, he'd finally won her over, he'd finally captured her hearts, he'd gotten the girl.

He leaned in and kissed her deeply, his hand moving to her neck, his other winding around her waist, "I have to wonder," he murmured against her lips as he pulled away, "How you'll top this for next year," he gently stroked her cheek, "This is truly the best gift I have ever gotten Naery," he looked into her eyes, "I love you too."

She smiled and pulled him down for another kiss, she knew that they'd likely visit the Ponds next, tell them they were still alive, but right now…she'd rather enjoy the time kissing her Chosen.

To be continued...in...To Be Chosens!

A/N: I can't believe the story's over! O.O I can't believe the series will be over before the end of this month! O.O I hope you all liked the ending :) Mac FINALLY loves him the proper way ;)

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you, anyone who's read/reviewed/favorited/followed/anything the story :) You all mean the world to me and I'm very glad you've enjoyed it so far :)

Some notes on reviews...

Mac's definitely been through the remains of Bessie. I feel like UNIT would either try to replicate it and fail or take her apart and try to use her pieces, but Mac's on top of that ;)


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